UT Rio Grande vs. McNeese Prediction, Odds for College Basketball on Monday, Feb. 23

Sometimes, the best betting edges in college basketball can be found in the smaller conferences, so with that in mind, let's use tonight's short schedule of games to take a look at a Southland Conference matchup between UT Rio Grand Valley and McNeese.

Southland is largely a two-team race between Stephen F. Austin and McNeese, but it's UT Rio Grande Valley that's currently in third place, sitting four games back from the Cowboys. An upset win for the Vaqueros tonight would go a long way in them having a chance to catch McNeese in the final stretch of the regular season.

Let's take a look at the odds and my best bet for this game.

UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros vs. McNeese Odds, Spread, and Total

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

Spread

UT Rio Grande Valley +9.5 (-102)
McNeese -9.5 (-118)

Moneyline

UT Rio Grande Valley +440
McNeese -600

Total

OVER 145.5 (-110)
UNDER 145.5 (-110)

UT Rio Grande Valley vs. McNeese How to Watch

Date: Monday, February 23
Game Time: 7:30 pm ET
Venue: Townsley Law Arena
How to Watch (TV): ESPN+
UT Rio Grande Valley Record: 16-12 (12-7 in Southland)
McNeese Record: 23-5 (16-3 in Southland)

UT Rio Grande Valley vs. McNeese Betting Trends

UT Rio Grande Valley is 7-2 ATS in its last nine games
UT Rio Grande Valley is 6-0 ATS in its last six road games
UT Rio Grande Valley is 4-1 ATS in its last five games as an underdog
The UNDER is 5-2 in McNeese's last seven games
McNeese has won 20 straight home games

UT Rio Grande Valley vs. McNeese Key Player to Watch

Larry Johnson, G - McNeese Cowboys

The key player in this game is going to be McNeese's guard, Larry Johnson, who is leading the team in both points per game (16.8) and rebounds per game (5.1), which is rare to see from a guard. He's coming off a 23-point performance against Texas A&M Corpus-Christi, so the Vaqueros are going to have to find a way to slow him down tonight.

UT Rio Grande Valley vs. McNeese Prediction and Pick

In today's edition of Daily Dunk, I wrote about why I think there's an edge in backing UT Rio Grande Valley as a big underdog:

I was a bit surprised to see the spread in this game set as high as 9.5. Texas Rio Grande Valley is 61st in the country in effective field goal percentage and 106th in defensive efficiency. By comparison, McNeese ranks 175th in effective field goal percentage and 33rd in defensive efficiency. That doesn't seem like enough of a difference to justify a 9.5-point spread.

It's also worth noting that McNeese ranks inside the top 100 in two-point shot rate, and now it faces a UT Rio Grande Valley team that ranks 89th in opponent two-point field goal percentage, keeping teams to shooting just 49.5% from two-point range.

Pick: UT Rio Grand Valley +9.5 (-102)

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