Drake at Wichita State NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament First Four odds, picks and prediction

The Drake Bulldogs (25-4) are a 2-point favorite to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament Round of 64 bracket when they play the Wichita State Shockers (16-5) in a First Four matchup on Thursday at Mackey Arena, starting at 6:27 PM ET on TBS.

On Sunday, the Bulldogs faced Loyola Chicago and fell short by a score of 75-65. The Bulldogs failed to cover the spread as 8.5-point underdogs and the teams combined to hit the over on the 125 point total.

Alterique Gilbert led the way for the Shockers with a team-high 14 points last time out as they fell to Cincinnati 60-59 while failing to cover the 4-point spread. The teams combined to hit the under on the 142.5 point total set for the matchup.

Drake at Wichita State odds, spread and lines

Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports' betting odds for a full list.

Lines last updated at 4:20 PM ET on March 18, 2021.

• Money line: Drake -140 (bet $140 to win $100) | Wichita State +115 (bet $100 to win $115)
• Against the spread/ATS: Drake -2 (-110) | Wichita State +2 (-110)
• Over/Under: 140.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)

Drake: Three things to know

• The Bulldogs scoring leader is Shanquan Hemphill, who averages 14.1 points per game. D.J. Wilkins is the top three-point shooter for the team, knocking down 2.3 per game.
• The 77.4 points per game the Bulldogs put up are 10 more points than the Shockers allow (67.4).
• Drake has a 24-0 record overall and an 18-0-1 record against the spread when scoring more than 67.4 points.

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Wichita State: Three things to know

• Tyson Etienne leads the Shockers scoring 17.0 points per game. Etienne leads the squad with a team-high 3.1 made three-pointers per game.
• The Shockers score an average of 72.4 points per game, 7.7 more points than the 64.7 the Bulldogs allow to opponents.
• Wichita State is 8-0 against the spread and 15-0 overall when it scores more than 64.7 points.

Drake at Wichita State odds, lines, predictions and picks

Prediction

Wichita State 71, Drake 70

Money line

The model gives the Shockers the edge in this contest, in opposition to the BetMGM money line favorite.

Against the spread (ATS)

The data strongly suggests betting on the Shockers in this one. The model favors them while MGM has the Bulldogs favored and the difference between the two is 3.6 points.

Over/Under (O/U)

The model's predicted total (141.2 points) and the MGM set total (140.5 points) are virtually the same for this contest.

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