It’s not easy to find a team who’s been as dominant as Oral Roberts has been this season.
The Golden Eagles have lost just four of 32 games including a PERFECT 18-0 in conference play! After handling North Dakota to open the Summit Conference Tournament, Oral Roberts will match up with Saint Thomas (Minnesota) with a spot in the conference championship on the line.
It’s hard to see how Oral Roberts could possibly lose in a spot like this, but there’s a reason it’s called March MADNESS.
Here are the odds for this Summit Conference semifinal game:
St. Thomas (MN) vs. Oral Roberts odds, spread and total
St. Thomas (MN) vs. Oral Roberts prediction and pick
Obviously it’s not going to pay to bet Oral Roberts moneyline for this game (as has been the case for most of the season), so let’s examine the spread and total here.
Oral Roberts is just 3-7 against the spread (ATS) over its last 10 games and owns a 14-14 record ATS across the season. It’s often difficult for the Golden Eagles to cover such a big number.
Oral Roberts has handled Saint Thomas (19-13, 9-9) in two meetings, winning 81-69 and 95-88, covering the spread once by 0.5 points and falling short of it once by 1 point.
But the Tommies have been relatively strong ATS as of late, covering the spread in six of their last 10 games, owning a season record of 19-11 ATS this season. I’m avoiding betting on the spread for this reason.
The Tommies might have a perceived disadvantage due to their record and their recent matchups with the Golden Eagles, but this time is surprisingly good on offense.
Saint Thomas ranks 46th in the nation in raw offensive efficiency and 61st in true shooting percentage. The Tommies’ defense, though, doesn’t get the same grades. Saint Thomas is 280th in the nation in raw defensive efficiency, allowing 70.9 points per game (ranked 182nd).
That’s a BAD spot to be in against an Oral Roberts team that ranks top-five in the nation in both offensive efficiency (4th) and average points per game (5th).
The over is 3-7 in the Golden Eagles’ past 10 games and 5-5 over the past 10 for the Tommies, but the last time these teams met, they combined for 183 points.
Considering that Oral Roberts isn’t the best defensive team themselves, allowing 70.5 points per game (172nd in opponent points per game), take the OVER 155 total points here in a game where both teams have more than enough motivation to keep their foot on the gas.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
