Check out our free Missouri State vs Murray State pick and preview for this NCAA Basketball game in Murray. See who we like to win and cover the spread in this College Basketball matchup.

Missouri State vs Murray State Pick & Preview: Saturday, January 28th Betting Odds

Bears vs Racers Matchup at a Glance

  • Sport: NCAAB
  • Teams: Missouri State Bears at Murray State Racers
  • Where: Murray at CFSB Center
  • Date: Saturday, January 28th
  • Betting Odds: Missouri State +1.5, MSRST +103 | MURST -126 O/U 132.0

Bears Preview:

Through 21 games, the Missouri State Bears have an overall record of 11-10. On the road, the Bears will be playing their 10th game of the season, having gone 4-6. So far, the Bears have been the underdog 7 times, going 3-4 straight up. Heading into today’s contest, they are the +1.5 underdogs on the spread.

Donovan Clay comes into today’s game as the Bears’ leading scorer at 10.67 points per contest. Not only has Clay been key to the team’s scoring efforts, but he is Missouri State’s top rebounder at 5.67 boards per contest. Behind Clay, the team has benefited from the strong play of Chance Moore, who is second on the team in scoring at 11.15 points per game. Overall, he has hit 44.7% of his shots and is adding 3.75 boards per game.

So far this season, Missouri State has put together a strong scoring offense at 77.5 points per game (46th). This strong figure has come despite the Bears playing at a slow tempo compared to other schools. For the season, they have hit 37.4% of their shots from outside, which is closer to the NCAA average. Missouri State’s overall field goal percentage currently sits at 48.4%

Racers Preview:

Heading into today’s matchup vs Missouri State, the Murray State Racers will be taking the floor for the 22nd time this season and have an overall record of 11-10. So far this season, Murray State has played 9 games at home, sitting with a record of 7-2. At the time of this article, the oddsmakers have the Racers as the -1.5 point favorites. The Racers have been favored 10 times, going 7-3 straight up.

Murray State will be counting on another strong performance from the team’s leading scorer Rob Perry who is averaging 15.1 points per game for the Racers. Perry is also important to the team’s ability to score on the perimeter. So far, he leads the team in 3-point shots made. Also key to the Racers’ offensive game plan is the play of Jacobi Wood who has hit 40.4% of his field goal attempts on his way to averaging 11.48 points per game.

Murray State comes into today’s matchup vs Missouri State, looking to continue their strong offensive play, as they are averaging 79.3 points per game. Through 21 games, they have hit 47.9% of their field goal attempts. In terms of pace, the Racers have preferred to slow the game down, ranking 483rd in possessions per game.

Free Spread Prediction: Missouri State Bears +1.5

A key to this matchup, will be 3-point shooting. Coming into the game, both Murray State and Missouri State are excellent 3-point shooting teams, averaing 8.06 and 8.3 made 3’s per game, respectively. In terms of the odds, we like the Missouri State Bears to cover as +1.5 point dogs. Look for their defense to do a good enough job closing out on the Racers’ outside shooters to make things difficult for Murray State. At +1.5 we like the chances of Missouri State covering the spread as underdogs.