Oakland at Michigan State NCAA Basketball Betting Preview & Pick.

Oakland at Michigan State NCAA Basketball Betting Preview & Pick

Written by on December 21, 2018

Should little Oakland University – located near Detroit – be any challenge for No. 10 Michigan State on Friday night? Shouldn’t be, and the Spartans are huge NCAA Basketball Betting favorites. However, Oakland has given MSU trouble in the past.

Oakland at Michigan State NCAA Basketball Betting Preview & Pick

  • When: Friday, 7 PM ET
  • Where: Breslin Center, East Lansing
  • TV: Big Ten Network
  • Live Stream: BTN2Go
  • Radio: TuneIn
  • NCAA Basketball Betting Odds: MSU -25

Team Records

  • All: Oakland 4-8 / Michigan State 9-2
  • Home: Oakland 3-3 / Michigan State 7-0
  • Away: Oakland 1-5 / Michigan State 2-2
  • ATS: Oakland 6-5 / Michigan State 7-4
  • Over/Under: Oakland 8-3 / Michigan State 6-5

Series History

MSU leads 16-0, but, again, some have been close. Last year, the Spartans were ranked second in the country and one just 86-73. Michigan State finally went on a 12-2 run late in the game to pull away. Nick Ward had 15 points and 15 rebounds for Michigan State, which finished with a 45-30 edge on the boards. It was tied at 66 before the decisive run by the Spartans. Kendrick Nunn scored 32 points for the Golden Grizzlies, who led 52-49 with about 15 minutes left.

Why Bet on Oakland?

Oakland (4-8) comes off an 81-69 loss at Georgia. Tray Maddox Jr. got his first career start and scored a career-high 12 points in the loss. Xavier Hill-Mais led all scorers with 21 points and tied a career-high 9 rebounds. James Beck also added nine rebounds, five of which came on the offensive glass. Jaevin Cumberland scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half including four three-pointers.

The Golden Grizzlies gave Georgia trouble by scoring 23 points on 15 Georgia turnovers. The Dawgs only led 66-64 with just under five minutes to go. Nicolas Claxton dunked for UGA with 4:34 left to play as Georgia outscored Oakland 13-5 the rest of the game to pull away. Oakland trailed at halftime 45-34. The Golden Grizzlies are 1-6 this season when down at the half.

Oakland has made a three-pointer in 949 consecutive games, seventh-best streak in the country. The last time Oakland did not make a three-pointer was vs. Wayne State on Jan. 30, 1988.

The Golden Grizzlies lead the Horizon League in six different categories, all of which rank inside the NCAA’s top-10: total assists (second; 226), assist-to-turnover ratio (fifth; 1.69), three-point field goal percentage (seventh; 42 percent), total three-pointers (eighth; 131), three-pointers per game (10th; 10.9) and assists per game (10th; 18.8).

Oakland has a total of 10 wins against teams that hail from Power-5 conferences (most recent: 74-69 at Clemson on March 14, 2017, in the NIT. Oakland’s two top-25 wins came against No. 23 Oregon (68-62) at The Palace of Auburn Hills on Dec. 22, 2007, and at No. 7 Tennessee (89-82) on Dec. 14, 2010, inside Thompson-Boling Arena.

Why Bet on Michigan State?

The Spartans (9-2) have won four straight since a loss at Louisville. They clobbered Green Bay 104-83 last Sunday. Nick Ward scored a career-high 28 points and Michigan State scored 64 points in the first half and cruised to the victory. The Spartans opened up a 64-35 lead at the break after hitting 62.9 percent of their field goals (22-of-35).

Ward connected on 12-of-13 of his shots from the floor. His 92.3 percent shooting for the game is the second-best single-game mark in program history. Cassius Winston had 16 points and 12 assists, Matt McQuaid tied his season-high with 12 points and Joshua Langford finished with 13 points, seven rebounds, and four assists. MSU handed out 31 assists on 38 field goals. The Spartans had a 56-34 advantage on the boards and scored 48 points in the paint.

Oakland vs Michigan State should be an easy victory for the Spartans.

It was the third time this season MSU has scored at least 100 points, and the 104 points are the second-most this season. It was the 50th time in the program in history that the Spartans have scored at least 100 points in a game (49-1). It was the 20th time MSU has scored at least 100 points under Head Coach Tom Izzo (19-1). It was the 10th time this season Michigan State out-rebounded its opponent. The Spartans are 9-1 in those games.

The Golden Grizzlies (226) and Spartans (225) rank second and third respectively in the NCAA in assists. Oakland and Michigan State also each rank inside the NCAA’s top-10 in assists per game (MSU 4th, 20.5; OAK 10th, 18.8).

Oakland at Michigan State NCAA Basketball Betting Trends

  • Golden Grizzlies are 9-21 ATS in their last 30 games overall
  • Golden Grizzlies are 3-7-1 ATS in their last 11 vs. Big Ten
  • Spartans are 8-3 ATS in their last 11 games following a straight up win of more than 20 points
  • Spartans are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games following a straight up win
  • Oakland is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games
  • The total has gone OVER in 6 of Oakland’s last 8 games
  • Michigan State is 9-1 SU in its last 10 games
  • The total has gone OVER in 4 of Michigan State’s last 5 games

Expert NCAA Basketball Prediction for Oakland at Michigan

Oakland can hang within 18 or so. Take the points.