UTSA vs East Carolina Prediction 2/23/25 College Basketball Picks

The UTSA Roadrunners and the East Carolina Pirates meet Sunday in college basketball action from Minges Coliseum. Here’s a UTSA vs East Carolina prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best UTSA vs East Carolina pick. We will examine: 

The UTSA Roadrunners’ recent form and player performance

The East Carolina Pirates’ recent form and player performance 

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the UTSA Roadrunners

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the East Carolina Pirates

Recent betting trends in games played between UTSA and East Carolina

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the UTSA vs East Carolina game

UTSA Roadrunners Betting Preview

The Roadrunners didn’t start out the year too badly, but they’ve been struggling since mid-December. UTSA hit a 6-5 run over their first 11 games, taking losses to Bradley, Little Rock, Troy, Saint Mary’s, and Arkansas during that time. UTSA would go 4-6 over the next 10 games, beating Wichita State, Rice, Temple, and North Texas alongside losses to Army, Tulane, Tulsa, North Texas, UAB, and Florida Atlantic. Since then it’s been a string of five losses versus Tulane, East Carolina, Wichita State, Tulsa, and South Florida. After 26 games so far, that gives the Roadrunners an overall record of 10-16. 

In the South Florida game on Wednesday, the Roadrunners were looking good after the first half on a 40-29 edge. UTSA was outscored 49-33 the rest of the way however, and ended up taking a tough loss 78-73 in the end. Leading the team in the losing effort was Damari Monsanto with 22 points, four rebounds, and three steals. Primo Spears added 18 points with six boards, four assists, and two steals in 39 minutes of work on the floor as well. 

East Carolina Pirates Betting Preview

Over on the East Carolina side, they had a rough run going in December and January but otherwise, they’ve looked pretty good. The Pirates took out NC Wesleyan, Coastal Carolina, Mount Olive, George Mason, Stetson, UIC, and North Carolina A&T in their first eight games, then hit a 2-8 run over the next 10. Those losses came courtesy of UNC Wilmington, South Carolina, North Alabama, Gardner-Webb, South Florida, Florida Atlantic, Memphis, and North Texas. Since then East Carolina has gone 6-3, falling to Temple, Rice, and Tulane with wins otherwise versus Wichita State, Tulsa, South Florida, UTSA, UAB, and Charlotte. That gives the Pirates a 15-12 overall run through 27 games so far this year. 

In the Tulane game on Wednesday, East Carolina was down by 14 points at halftime. The Pirates hit a 49-40 run the rest of the way but it wasn’t enough during an 86-81 loss on the road. East Carolina’s top scorer was Jordan Riley with 19 points and eight boards. RJ Felton added 18 points with two rebounds and two assists, while both CJ Walker (four rebounds) and Yann Farell (bench) chipped in with 14 points each. 

Why the East Carolina Pirates will win

• UTSA has lost each of its last five games against the American Athletic Conference.
• East Carolina has won three of its last four games against the American Athletic Conference.
• UTSA has lost the first half in four of its last five road games.

Why the UTSA Roadrunners will win

• East Carolina has lost each of its last four games following a road loss.

UTSA vs East Carolina Prediction 

I’ll just stay with East Carolina here. The Pirates are coming off a tough loss versus a middling Tulane team though, shooting just 40.3 percent from the field with a 41-37 rebounding deficit in that one. East Carolina gave up 48.2 percent shooting on the other side but did get 20 points off 14 Wave turnovers—it just wasn’t enough. ECU is on a nice scoring run these days though, with 75 or more points in four straight games. 

The Pirates pulled off a tight 80-79 road win back on February 8 when these teams last saw each other. Both teams shot well (over 47 percent), had comparable rebounding (32-31 in favor of ECU), and committed fewer than 10 turnovers. This one should be close as well, but I like the Pirates to eke it out in the end.