Richmond (5-1) vs Charlotte (3-4)
12:30 PM EST
The Line: Betting Odds: Charlotte +7.5 — Over/Under: 147.5
The Richmond Spiders and the Charlotte 49ers meet Friday in college basketball action from State Farm Field House. Here’s a Richmond vs Charlotte prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Richmond vs Charlotte pick. We will examine the recent form and player performances for both teams, as well as the recent betting trends and streaks pertaining to this matchup. As we conclude, we will tie it all together with a summary that produces a sensible pick for a favorable betting outcome in this game.
Richmond Spiders Betting Preview
The Spiders opened up their year on a great clip, but they suffered their first blemish of the season on Thursday. Richmond beat Southern Virginia in their opener, then took out East Carolina in game two. Game three was another win, this time over William & Mary, then came a victory in blowout fashion versus VMI. Following a game five win over Gardner-Webb, the Spiders took a close loss to Furman on Thanksgiving. That gives Richmond a 5-1 record across their first half dozen games of the year.
In their Thursday matchup with Furman, Richmond went into the second half trailing 43-38. The Spiders made a run in the second half with a 34-30 advantage but fell just short in a 73-72 outcome. Jaden Daughtry was tops on 12 points with five boards and both Mikkel Tyne (two rebounds) and Will Johnson added 10 points apiece. Mike Walz put up 10 rebounds with seven points and six assists as well.
Charlotte 49ers Betting Preview
Over on the Charlotte side, they’ve had a pretty choppy year thus far. The 49ers opened up with consecutive wins over Indiana State and Tennessee Tech, but then hit a three-game losing streak. Those losses came versus Davidson, Virginia Tech and App State. Following another win over Shaw, the 49ers took a loss to Illinois State on Thursday. That gives Charlotte a 3-4 record in their seven appearances so far this year.
On Thursday versus Illinois State, Charlotte was in trouble at halftime with a 43-34 deficit. The 49ers scored another 35 points from there but didn’t get any closer in an eventual loss 79-69. Leading the team in scoring during the losing effort was Ben Bradford with 23 points, seven rebounds and two assists. Major Freeman added 12 points with five assists and three rebounds as the only other team player to finish in double-digits.
Richmond vs Charlotte Prediction
I’ll probably just stay with Richmond. The Spiders took a tough loss to a rapidly-improving Furman team on Thursday, shooting a tepid 40.7 percent from the field along the way. Richmond was solid on the boards with 32 rebounds and at the line (15-of-17 for 88.2 percent) but also coughed up 16 turnovers along the way. The good news is that Richmond has 72 or more points in every game this year along with 84 or more in all five victories. They should score well here also, and they’ll be in good shape if so.
As for Charlotte, they shot well from the field in their loss to Illinois State: 44.2 percent from the floor and 47.4 percent (9-of-19) from outside. The 49ers were competitive up front with ties in rebounding 30-30 and points in the paint 26-26. The work at the line wasn’t great though (14-of-23 for 60.9 percent) and Charlotte coughed up 13 turnovers. The Niners have been below 70 points in three of the last five games, and I don’t think they’ll keep much of a pace here either.