Rider vs Bucknell Prediction College Basketball Picks 11/23/24

Sojka Pavilion. Here’s a Rider vs Bucknell prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Rider vs Bucknell pick. We will examine:

The Rider Broncs’ recent form and player performance

The Bucknell Bison’s recent form and player performance

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Rider Broncs

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Bucknell Bison

Recent betting trends in games played between Rider and Bucknell

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Rider vs Bucknell game

Rider Broncs Betting Preview

The Broncs had a tough matchup in their opener versus UCLA and fell 85-50. The next three games were all victories for Rider, though. Those came 68-67 versus San Diego, 64-53 against Coppin State, and 90-79 against Navy.

In their last outing versus Iowa on Tuesday, Rider fell back into the loss column. The Broncs were down 40-26 by halftime and didn’t get any closer on a 43-32 second-half run in an 83-58 result. Tariq Ingraham was the leading scorer on the team with 14 points and three boards.

Bucknell Bison Betting Preview

Over on the Bucknell side, they managed a pair of wins in their first two games. Those were 85-73 versus Delaware and 75-69 against Southern Indiana. The Bison would fall to Kentucky and Mount St. Mary’s in the next pair before an 80-76 win versus Richmond.

Matched up against NJIT on Thursday, the Bison didn’t have too many issues. Bucknell surged to a 44-29 first-half edge and cruised on 37 more points from there in an 81-64 victory. Tops in scoring was Ian Motta with 15 points and five rebounds.

Why the Bucknell Bison will win

• Bucknell has won 12 of its last 13 night games at Sojka Pavilion following a home win.
• Rider has lost 16 of its last 20 road night games against non-conference opponents.
• Rider has lost the first half in four of its last five night games.

Why the Rider Broncs will win

• Rider has won 10 of its last 12 games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Bucknell has lost each of its last three games against the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
• Bucknell has lost the first half in three of its last four home night games against the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

Rider vs Bucknell Prediction

I’ll probably lean toward Rider. Also probably staying away. The Broncs are coming off an uneven effort against an undefeated Iowa team in their last outing, but there were some good takeaways. Rider shot an abysmal 1-of-16 (6.3 percent) from 3-point range with 20 turnovers in that one but also led the rebounding 35-33 and shot a fairly reasonable 42.6 percent from the field. That makes a combined 108 points in the Broncs’ two losses compared to 168 points allowed.

As for Bucknell, on Thursday they handled a winless NJIT team pretty easily with 48.1 percent shooting, 35 rebounds, and 19 assists. The Bison have played pretty tight most of the year, with three of their six games going into overtime (a 2-1 record). Rider is going to have to stay aggressive on high-percentage shots here, but if all goes well I think the Broncos can keep a good pace.