The Memphis Tigers face the Boise State Broncos in an NIT quarter-final matchup in college basketball action from the UNT Coliseum on Thursday night.
The Boise State Broncos reached the quarters thanks to an 85-84 win over SMU in their last matchup. Mladen Armus led the Broncos with 18 points on 6 of 8 shooting with 10 rebounds for the double-double while Emmanuel Akot was right behind with 17 points on 6 of 13 shooting with 5 threes, 6 rebounds and a team-high 9 assists. Derrick Alston Jr. and Marcus Shaver Jr. each had 13 points with Alston Jr. shooting 5 of 11 with a pair of threes while Shaver Jr. had 3 triples. Devonnaire Doutrive added 10 points on 4 of 10 shooting with a pair of threes, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for Boise State in the victory.
The Memphis Tigers booked their spot in the quarters thanks to their 71-60 win over Dayton last time out. Landers Nolley II led the Tigers in scoring with 21 points on 8 of 20 shooting with 4 threes along with 6 rebounds and a team-high 5 assists while Lester Quinones added 15 points on 5 of 7 shooting with 3 threes and a team-high 10 rebounds for the double-double. Deandre Williams added 12 points on 5 of 10 shooting with a pair of threes and a pair of steals and D.J. Jeffries had 10 points on 5 of 8 shooting with 5 rebounds and 5 assists of his own to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for Memphis in the winning effort.
Boise State is 5-2 ATS in their last 7 neutral site games and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games as an underdog while the over is 4-1 in their last 5 games following a win. Memphis is 13-3 ATS in their last 16 games overall and 10-1 ATS in their last 11 games as a favorite while the under is 6-1 in their last 7 neutral site games.
Both of these are teams we’ve made a ton on this season and both did well in their respective paths to this matchup. However, I just feel like Memphis is the slightly better team but are they 4 points better than Boise State? I’m not so sure. The Broncos battled hard in their win over SMU and side-by-side, this feels like a game that could come down to the last possession. I’ll take my chances with Boise State and the points here.
Free Pick: Boise St +4.5 over Memphis
