Akron Zips vs Texas Tech Red Raiders Prediction, 3/20/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Akron Zips vs Texas Tech Red Raiders

Date: Friday, March 20, 2026

Location: Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, FL

TV: truTV

Odds/Point Spread: Texas Tech (-8)

The Texas Tech Red Raiders (22-10) welcome the Akron Zips (29-5) at Benchmark International Arena on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Akron opens this matchup as 8-point dogs from Vegas oddsmakers. The betting total is set at 156.

The Akron Zips took the court against Toledo and walked away with a win by a score of 79-76 in their last game. When discussing personal fouls, the Zips walked away with 20 while Toledo finished the game with 24 personal fouls. They also converted 10 of their 24 attempts from 3-point land. Toledo shot 76.9% at the charity stripe by burying 10 of their 13 shots. Additionally, Toledo grabbed 42 rebounds (17 offensive, 25 defensive), but couldn't earn a rejection. Toledo earned 5 dimes and had 6 steals for the game. Pertaining to the defense, Akron allowed the other team to shoot 50.0% from the field on 28 of 56 shooting. They also recorded 11 assists in the game in addition to forcing 8 turnovers and getting 3 steals. When discussing grabbing boards, they collected 33 with 7 of them being offensive. At the free throw line, the Zips buried 3 of 9 shots for a percentage of 33.3%. Akron walked away from the contest with a 46.5% field goal percentage (33 of 71) and buried 10 of 34 three-point shots.

Amani Lyles is one guy who played a role in this contest. He ended up with 15 points on 7 out of 12 shooting. He saw the court for 31 mins played and also totaled 16 rebounds. He finished the game shooting 58.3% from the field and also totaled 2 assists.

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Akron heads into this contest with a win-loss record of 29-5 on the season. They have an average of 88.4 pts per contest (7th in the country) on 50.3% from the floor. The Zips are shooting 37.9% on shots from 3-point land (371 of 979) and 75.4% from the charity stripe. As a team, Akron is pulling down 38.1 rebounds per contest and is sitting with 627 assists on the season, which is 4th in the country in terms of passing the ball. They turn it over 10.9 times per game and as a unit they are committing 15.8 personal fouls per game.

On the defensive end of the court, the Zips have forced 13.5 turnovers per game while drawing 15.6 personal fouls. They are currently ranked 229th in college in giving up assists with 450 conceded for the season. The Zips defensively are giving up a field goal percentage of 42.1% (874 of 2,074) and they surrender 33.1 rebounds per game as a unit. They concede 34.9% on 3-pointers and they are ranked 172nd in college hoops in opponents PPG (73.5).

The last time they took the court, the Texas Tech Red Raiders took a loss by a final score of 75-53 against Iowa State. The Red Raiders corralled 21 defensive rebounds and 6 offensive rebounds for a total of 27 for this contest. They coughed up the ball 10 times, while getting 6 steals in the matchup. Iowa State earned 14 fouls for this contest which got the Red Raiders to the free throw line for 10 tries. They were able to knock down 6 of the free throw tries for a rate of 60.0%. Regarding 3-point shots, Texas Tech converted 9 of 29 tries (31.0%). Overall, the Red Raiders went 19 for 56 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 33.9%. The Red Raiders allowed Iowa State to make 30 of their 56 tries from the floor which had them shooting 53.6% in the matchup. They finished 38.9% from behind the 3-point line by shooting 7 of 18 and walked away from this one shooting 8 of 14 from the free throw line (57.1%). When it comes to rebounding, Texas Tech permitted Iowa State to pull down 33 overall (6 offensive).

LeJuan Watts pitched in for the Red Raiders in this contest. He earned 12 points in his 28 mins of playing time and had 2 dimes in this matchup. He converted 5 of 12 for the contest for a rate of 41.7%, and totaled 7 rebounds.

Texas Tech has a mark of 22-10 for the campaign. The Red Raiders have committed 16.3 fouls every game while shooting 71.5% from the charity stripe. They are dishing out assists 15.8 times per contest (69th in Division 1) and they turn it over 10.8 times per contest. Texas Tech has scored 2,573 pts for the year (80.4 per game) and they grab 36.9 boards per game. On the offensive side of the ball, the Red Raiders are connecting on 46.7% from the floor, which is ranked 89th in college.

The Texas Tech defense surrenders 31.5% on shots from distance (212 of 674) and opponents are knocking down 69.4% of their foul shots. They have allowed 11.0 dimes and 34.1 boards per contest, which ranks 22nd and 152nd in college hoops. The Red Raiders on defense are ranked 141st in college in points given up per game with 72.6. They are forcing their opponents into 10.0 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 43.9% from the floor (163rd in college).

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Texas Tech (-8)

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