East Tennessee State Buccaneers at The Citadel Bulldogs Pick – Odds and ATS Predictions

The East Tennessee State Buccaneers (13-4) and The Citadel Bulldogs (9-5) will square off in Charleston, South Carolina on Thursday, January 10th, 2019 for a pivotal Southern Conference clash. The game will be available for streaming on ESPN+. The Citadel won the most recent meeting between the two parties in February of 2018 when they edged out ETSU 84-82 at home as an 18.5-point underdog. The upset ended the Buccaneers’ five-game winning streak over the Bulldogs. Overall, the Citadel has covered in the last three meetings. The Under is 4-1 ATS in the previous five meetings.

East Tennessee State Buccaneers at The Citadel Bulldogs Overview

East Tennessee State Buccaneers

The Buccaneers enter on a five-game winning streak capped off by their most win against Chattanooga five days ago by a score 96-70. The victory over the Mocs marked ETSU’s fourth cover against the spread in its last five outings. Moreover, the Over is 4-0 ATS in the previous four games involving East Tennessee State.

The Citadel Bulldogs

The Bulldogs enter on an opposite path as they have lost their previous three overall and failed to produce a cover while doing so. Most recently, The Citadel was defeated five days ago on the road at Furman where they were unable to cover the spread in a 101-85 loss as a 12-point underdog. The Over is 3-0 ATS in The Citadel’s last three contests.

Reasons To Back Under

The Citadel is the best scoring team in America as they average 98.6 points per contest. They are also one of the worst defensive teams in the country giving up a 356th ranked 86.9 points per game. The Bulldogs play the tempo (KenPom ranks them fourth in that category) game to outscore opponents. That is all well and good, but they might have their hands full here against a defensive-minded team like East Tennessee State who gives up a 40th ranked 64.8 points per game. In addition, the Bucs will slow this one down and play “keep away” from The Citadel to limit their possessions as they are ranked 238th by KenPom regarding tempo. When you factor in the narrative that ETSU is a top-ten team nationally in both offensive and defensive rebounds, the Buccaneers can play this game on its own terms and limit the scoring which makes the Under a better play here.

Reasons To Avoid Over

The Over/Under for this contest is the highest of any game on the card today across America. Some of this can be attested to both teams producing an Over that has gone 7-0 ATS in their last seven combined games this season. Out of the gate though, we have seen the market push upward by a point already which could signal a potential overlay developing in this choice.