Tennessee State (17-14) vs Southern Indiana (8-23)
March 6, 2024 at 07:30 PM EST
The Line: Betting Odds: Tennessee State -2.5 — Over/Under: 144.5
The Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles and the Tennessee State Tigers meet in college basketball action from the Ford Center on Wednesday night. Who advances in this OVC tournament first round matchup? Let’s dive in and find out with our Southern Indiana vs. Tennessee State Prediction.
Southern Indiana Team Preview
The Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles come into this game looking to snap a three-game losing streak after a 70-66 loss to Southeast Missouri State, finishing the year as the 8-seed with a conference record of 5-13 as part of their 8-23 overall record. Jeremiah Hernandez leads the Screaming Eagles in scoring with 17.2 PPG along with 3.3 RPG while AJ Smith has 14.2 PPG with a team-high 9.1 RPG to lead the Screaming Eagles on the glass as the only other double-digit scorer for Southern Indiana this season. Jack Mielke has 8.6 PPG with 4.2 RPG while Jack Campion has a team-high 3.9 APG to lead the Screaming Eagles in the assist department up to this point in the year. As a team, Southern Indiana is averaging 68.7 PPG on 40.5% shooting from the field, 32.6% from three and 74.6% from the foul line this season.
More College Basketball Picks: East Carolina vs SMU Prediction!
Tennessee State Team Preview
The Tennessee State Tigers come into the OVC tournament as the 5-seed, finishing with an overall record of 17-14 and a conference record of 10-8 after a 96-87 loss to UT-Martin last time out. Christian Brown leads the Tigers in scoring with 12.6 PPG along with 3.2 RPG while E.J. Bellinger has 12.1 PPG with 4.9 RPG. Kinyon Hodges has 10 PPG with a team-high 5.6 RPG to lead the Tigers on the glass while Jason Jitoboh has 9.8 PPG with 5.2 RPG while Marcus Fitzgerald Jr. and Jaylen Jones each have 9.3 PPG with Fitzgerald Jr. logging 2.3 APG while Jones has 3.9 RPG and a team-high 2.7 APG. As a team, Tennessee State is averaging 73 PPG on 44.5% shooting from the field, 32.6% from three and 75.4% from the foul line this season.
Southern Indiana vs. Tennessee State Prediction
I’m on Tennessee State here. This is a fairly big number for the Tigers, and these two teams did split the regular season meetings between the two but overall, Tennessee State’s the better team with better scoring depth and statistically they’re the better team on both ends of the floor. I’ll lay the points with Tennessee State here.