The last time the Nevada Wolf Pack and the Colorado State Rams shared the court, it left the latter in a catatonic state due to the torture it received at the hands of Eric Musselman’s squad. Will the Wolf Pack repeat that kind of demolition? Or will the Rams put up a much better performance than their NFL counterpart (yes, it still stings) this passed Sunday? Going into tonight’s game the sportsbook favors Nevada by 13-points.
Betting on the Nevada Wolf Pack (21-1 Overall / 8-1 Conference)
Nevada continues its mastery of the Mountain West. Last Saturday, the Wolf Pack dominated the Boise State Broncos 93-73. That was a convincing win this time around for Nevada, which won by a hairline in the first meeting with Boise State on Jan. 15 on the road, 72-71. Also, the Wolf Pack have been downright brutal to their opponents since that first date with Boise State. Over Nevada’s last four games, they have won by an absurd margin of 23 points. That was, of course, heavily skewed by the Wolf Pack’s 100-60 torturing of Colorado State at home on Jan. 23. In that game, Nevada was dialed in on both ends of the court, shooting 56.1 percent from the field and limiting the Rams to convert just 29.6 percent of their shots. The Wolf Pack also hit 13 3-pointers and swiped a total of 11 steals. Forward Jordan Caroline led Nevada in that game with 26 points, and it’s possible he and/or anyone on the team will explode anew against Colorado State’s defense that has a KenPom ranking of 284.
Nevada, which is averaging 81.4 points per game, is 6-3 against the spread (ATS) so far in conference play.
Betting on the Colorado State Rams (9-13 Overall / 4-5 Conference)
The Rams need to forget the embarrassment they suffered against Nevada in the two team’s first meeting, but they also have to show they learned some lessons from it. For one, they have to cut down on their errors. In the earlier loss to the Wolf Pack, Colorado State coughed the ball up a total of 21 turnovers to just seven by Nevada. Granted that Nevada has a stout defense, Colorado can put up a better performance in the rematch if the Rams could make wiser decisions. One good thing from their earlier loss to Nevada was that the Rams were able to go 9-for-20 from behind the arc, though, that mostly because of the hot hands of Jeremiah Page, who sank 6 of nine tries from deep and finished with a total of 18 points. If anything, the Rams will have some semblance of momentum they will ride on into the second meeting with Nevada, as they took down the Air Force Falcons, 83-53, on the road last Saturday.
The Rams are 3-2 ATS in five games this season in which they were the home underdogs.
