Ohio vs Middle Tennessee Prediction College Basketball Picks 11/21/24

The Ohio Bobcats and the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders meet Thursday in college basketball action from the HTC Center. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s an Ohio vs. Middle Tennessee prediction.

Ohio Recap

The Ohio Bobcats come into this game looking to bounce back after a 94-70 loss at the hands of Memphis last time out.

Bobcats Drop Back-To-Back Games

AJ Brown leads the Bobcats in scoring with 14 PPG while Shereef Mitchell has 13 PPG with 4 RPG and 4 APG in two games so far this season. AJ Clayton logged 11.5 PPG with a team-high 4.8 RPG to lead Ohio on the glass while Aidan Hadaway has 11 PPG with 4 RPG to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for Ohio so far this season. Elmore James has 9.5 PPG while Ajay Sheldon has 9.3 PPG and Jackson Paveletzke has 8.8 PPG with 4.3 RPG and 3.3 APG as well on the year. As a team, Ohio is averaging 76.3 PPG on 44.7% shooting from the field, 37.8% from three, and 74.4% from the foul line this season.

Why the Ohio Bobcats will win

• Ohio has won each of its last nine Thursday games.
• Middle Tennessee has lost four of its last five day games played at neutral venues.

Middle Tennessee Recap

The Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders come into this game looking to bounce back from an 88-67 loss at the hands of Murray State last time out to fall to 3-1 on the year. Middle Tennessee will face UAB, Belmont, Cal Baptist, Lipscomb, and Tennessee following this one.

Blue Raiders Looking For Rebound

Jestin Porter leads the Blue Raiders in scoring with 14.8 PPG along with 1.8 SPG while Essam Mostafa has 12.3 PPG with 8.3 RPG to lead the Blue Raiders on the glass. Camryn Weston has 11.3 PPG with 3.5 APG to lead the Blue Raiders in the assist department. Jlynn Counter also has 12 PPG and Kamari Lands has 11.3 PPG as well for Middle Tennessee on the year. As a team, Middle Tennessee is averaging 80.8 PPG on 48.4% shooting from the field, 26.6% from three, and 72.5% from the foul line this season.

Why the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders will win

• Ohio has lost eight of its last nine games against non-conference opponents.
• Middle Tennessee has won nine of its last 12 games against non-conference opponents at neutral venues.

Ohio vs. Middle Tennessee Prediction

I’m with Middle Tennessee here. The difference for me is that Ohio’s defense stinks at defending the 3, but Middle Tennessee takes the 5th-fewest threes per game so far this season. They do their damage inside the arc and do it well. Middle Tennessee’s defense defends the perimeter well and Ohio is a top-100 team in terms of point dependency by way of threes. They need to hit their outside shots, or this Ohio team is in trouble and I think they could be here. The Blue Raiders can hit their free throws and they’re the better rebounding team as well. I’ll side with MTSU here.