NCAA Basketball Predictions, Odds & Best Bets (3/2)

March has begun and we had quite the Saturday to kick things off yesterday. But Sunday still has a decent sized slate full of some small schools with a few Power 5 games sprinkled in there. Let’s get into our College Hoops best bets. Only one on the board today!

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NCAA Basketball Best Bets – March 2nd, 2025

Quinnipiac vs Merrimack Predictions

Budd Clark and Merrimack host Rider tonight

Best Bets: Merrimack +2 (-110) BetOnline

Here we go again. Ride with me and the Warriors once again this season, but get a better number than I did. I jumped the gun and took Merrimack ML at even money last night before they started catching a couple points at home.

Merrimack finds themselves in a revenge spot at home on Senior Night, plus they are coming off a home loss on Friday Night. They failed to cover the +4 against the Bobcats, losing by 5 with the total soaring over 135, as Quinnipiac was victorious 81-76. Now back in North Andover, the Warriors look to end their season at home with a big win. I’ll save the entire Merrimack spiel but they play incredible defense at home. Take great care of the basketball and force plenty of turnovers. Plus they are slow and very good at keeping their opponent off the free throw line.

Who Controls Pace?

Quinnipiac is MUCH faster. The Warriors are 333rd in pace while the Bobcats are 13th, however, who controls the pace of the game?

*Colby Marchio pops out of the corner screaming, “THE HOME TEAM!”*

That’s right, class, the home team controls the pace of the game, and Merrimack is going to SLOW things down to their liking. They have the defense to compete, they just need their style of game. Quinnipiac crashes the boards, but offensively, they aren’t anything special. They rank 272nd overall offensively, 297th in eFG% and 346th in 3P% shooting just 29% from deep. They can’t defend the three either, allowing their opponents to shoot nearly 37% from beyond the arc.

Even though Merrimack’s offense isn’t that great, they’ll have the best player on the court in Budd Clark. He can take over and score whenever he pleases, leading the team with 20.1 points, 5.8 assists and 2.6 steals per game while also adding 4.4 boards. Clark went for 20-9-7 against the Bobcats earlier this season adding 3 steals as well. He certainly has the ability to will this Warriors team to victory at home, and coming off the loss, I see them shutting down Quinnipiac’s winning streak. Buy low with Merrimack and sell high on the Bobcats this afternoon.

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