Wofford vs East Tennessee State Prediction College Basketball Picks 1/4/25

The Wofford Terriers and the East Tennessee State Buccaneers meet Saturday in college basketball action from Freedom Hall Civic Center. Here’s a Wofford vs East Tennessee State prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Wofford vs East Tennessee State pick. We will examine:

The Wofford Terriers’ recent form and player performance

The East Tennessee State Buccaneers’ recent form and player performance

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Wofford Terriers

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the East Tennessee State Buccaneers

Recent betting trends in games played between Wofford and East Tennessee State

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Wofford vs East Tennessee State game

Wofford Terriers Betting Preview

Wofford took out Erskine in a blowout during their opener this year, then hit the skids with losses to Lipscomb, Presbyterian, and Duke over the next three games. Following a win over St. Thomas-Minnesota, Wofford would lose to Milwaukee and Portland State. The Terriers would right the ship again with wins over North Alabama and Gardner-Webb before two more losses to Elon and Charleston. Next came a couple more wins over Saint Louis and Kentucky Christian, but Wofford then lost their next outing versus UNC Greensboro.

Matched up against the Spartans on New Year’s Day, the Terriers came out of halftime with a 28-21 edge and were looking pretty good. Wofford stumbled from there, however, getting outscored 47-38 the rest of the way during a rough loss of 68-66. Leading the team in scoring during the losing effort was Corey Tripp with 17 points, five rebounds, and five assists. Kyler Filewich managed to double up with 13 points, 14 rebounds, and five assists, while Justin Bailey also logged double-figures with his 10 points, three rebounds, and three assists.

East Tennessee State Buccaneers Betting Preview

Over on the East Tennessee State side, they started out the 2024-25 season on a choppy 2-2 run. The Buccaneers fell to Eastern Kentucky and Davidson in that time with wins otherwise versus Newberry and Tusculum. A win streak ensued over the next four games versus South Carolina Upstate, Queens, Charlotte, and Austin Peay, but East Tennessee State would fall in the next three versus James Madison, Wichita State, and Jacksonville. Since then it’s been a 2-1 trio with a loss to Kansas City between wins over Elon and VMI in that time.

Matched up against VMI in their New Year’s Day game, the Buccaneers came into the second half facing a 38-38 tie on the scoreboard. East Tennessee State found their groove after that, taking a 46-31 second-half run for an 84-69 win. Leading the team in scoring (by far) was John Biggs with 33 points, three rebounds, and three assists. Jaden Seymour managed to triple up with 18 points, 10 boards, and 10 assists, while Quimari Peterson chipped in with 12 points, six assists, and four rebounds. Maki Johnson led the bench scoring on six points and two boards.

Why the East Tennessee State Buccaneers will win

• East Tennessee State has won each of its last six home games.
• Wofford has lost four of its last five games at Freedom Hall Civic Center against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Wofford has lost the first half in five of its last six games at Freedom Hall Civic Center.

Wofford vs East Tennessee State Prediction

I’m just going to stay with East Tennessee State here. The Buccaneers played a pretty solid game versus VMI in their last outing, notching 48.4 percent shooting overall and a nice 42.5 percent (17-of-40) from 3-point range. The 36 rebounds and 25 team assists helped, as did the fairly minimal eight turnovers. It was a nice performance offensively, which was good to see following a pretty erratic run over the past month or so. East Tennessee State has been below 67 points in three of the last six games (all three were losses).

As for Wofford, they shot pretty well (44.4 percent) and had a 34-28 rebounding advantage over UNC Greensboro in their last game. The issue was the 12 turnovers for 16 Spartans points, which helped drive the loss. The Terriers have been below 68 points in three of the last five games themselves, so whichever team can hit 70 points first here will likely win/cover. I like that to be East Tennessee State.

Andrew Jett's Pick: East Tennessee State Buccaneers -3