Check out our free Chattanooga vs Western Carolina pick and preview for this NCAA Basketball game in Cullowhee. See who we like to win and cover the spread in this College Basketball matchup.
Chattanooga vs Western Carolina Pick & Preview: Saturday, February 4th Betting Odds
Mocs vs Catamounts Matchup at a Glance
- Sport: NCAAB
- Teams: Chattanooga Mocs at Western Carolina Catamounts
- Where: Cullowhee at Ramsey Center
- Date: Saturday, February 4th
- Betting Odds: Chattanooga +1, CHAT -104 | WCAR -120 O/U 146.5
Mocs Preview:
Heading into today’s matchup vs Western Carolina, the Chattanooga Mocs will be taking the floor for the 25th time this season and have an overall record of 12-12. On the road, the Mocs will be playing their 12th game of the season, having gone 5-7. So far, the Mocs have been the underdog 10 times, going 4-6 straight up. Heading into today’s contest, they are the +1 underdogs on the spread.
Jake Stephens comes into today’s game as the Mocs’ leading scorer at 21.75 points per contest. Not only has Stephens been key to the team’s scoring efforts, but he is Chattanooga’s top rebounder at 10.2 boards per contest. Behind Stephens, the team has benefited from the strong play of Jamal Johnson, who is second on the team in scoring at 13.46 points per game. Overall, he has hit 41.2% of his shots and is adding 4.04 boards per game.
On offense, Chattanooga is scoring a rate similar to the NCAA average at 74.8 points per game. This figure has come despite struggling to knock down shots from outside. Through 24 games, they have only hit 34.6% of their 3-point field goal attempts. For the season, 39.37% of their shots have come from beyond the arc.
Catamounts Preview:
Western Carolina will take the floor against the Mocs with an overall record of 12-12. So far this season, Western Carolina has played 13 games at home, sitting with a record of 8-5. At the time of this article, the oddsmakers have the Catamounts as the -1 point favorites. The Catamounts have been favored 7 times, going 4-3 straight up.
Tyzhaun Claude comes into today’s game as the Catamounts’ leading scorer at 15.62 points per contest. Not only has Claude been key to the team’s scoring efforts, but he is Western Carolina’s top rebounder at 8.38 boards per contest. Behind Claude, the team has benefited from the strong play of Vonterius Woolbright, who is second on the team in scoring at 14.39 points per game. Overall, he has hit 47.3% of his shots and is adding 7.04 boards per game.
Offensive production has been hard to come by for Western Carolina this season, as they are currently ranked 221st in college basketball at 70.7 points per game. A major reason for low scoring totals is the fact that they have played at a below average pace, and have struggled to knock down outside shots. As a team, the Catamounts’ 3-point shooting percentage sits at just 31.9%, placing them 372nd in the NCAA.
Free Spread Prediction: Chattanooga Mocs +1
A key to this matchup, will be 3-point shooting. Coming into the game, both Western Carolina and Chattanooga are excellent 3-point shooting teams, averaing 10.0 and 8.0 made 3’s per game, respectively. In terms of the odds, we like the Chattanooga Mocs to cover as +1 point dogs. Look for their defense to do a good enough job closing out on the Catamounts’ outside shooters to make things difficult for Western Carolina. At +1 we like the chances of Chattanooga covering the spread as underdogs.
