East Tennessee State Buccaneers vs UNC Greensboro Spartans Prediction, 2/21/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: East Tennessee State Buccaneers vs UNC Greensboro Spartans

Date: Saturday, February 21, 2026

Location: First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro, NC

TV: ESPN+

The East Tennessee State Buccaneers (20-8) are traveling to First Horizon Coliseum on Saturday where they will meet the UNC Greensboro Spartans (12-16).

The East Tennessee State Buccaneers took the court against Furman and took home the win by a score of 78-69 in their last game. East Tennessee State finished the game with a 44.8% field goal percentage (26 of 58) and converted 12 out of their 24 3-point shots. From the free throw line, the Buccaneers converted 14 of 19 tries for a percentage of 73.7%. With respect to grabbing boards, they earned 32 with 9 of them being on the offensive end. They also doled out 11 assists in this matchup in addition to forcing 9 turnovers and earning 8 steals. Pertaining to defending, East Tennessee State let their opponent shoot 35.0% from the floor on 21 of 60 shooting. Furman recorded 11 assists and had 1 steal in this game. Furthermore, Furman collected 37 rebounds (11 offensive, 26 defensive), but wasn't able to record a rejection. Furman walked away from this one shooting 75.0% when shooting free throws by knocking down 21 of their 28 shots. They also knocked down 6 of their 33 shots from three-point range. In relation to personal fouls, the Buccaneers ended up with 22 while Furman recorded 16 personal fouls.

Milton Matthews is a player who was a major factor in the game. He finished with 18 points on 6 out of 11 shooting. He was on the court for 25 minutes played and snagged 2 rebounds. He walked away from this one shooting 54.5% from the floor but finished the game without an assist.

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East Tennessee State enters this matchup with a win-loss mark of 20-8 this year. They are losing possession via turnover 10.1 times per game and as a team they are committing 16.6 personal fouls per contest. As a unit, East Tennessee State is snagging 34.6 rebounds per game and is sitting with 409 assists this season, which has them ranked 93rd in college hoops in terms of passing the rock. The Buccaneers are connecting on 34.3% on shots from 3-point land (211 of 615) and 76.4% from the free throw line. They average 78.3 pts per game (127th in the nation) while hitting 48.3% from the field.

When they are on the defensive end, the Buccaneers have forced 13.3 turnovers every game while drawing 15.3 personal fouls. They are 196th in college hoops in allowing assists to their opponents with 360 conceded so far this year. The Buccaneers are allowing an opponent shooting percentage of 41.6% (649 of 1,561) and they relinquish 32.2 rebounds per contest as a team. They relinquish 31.6% on 3-point attempts and they are 48th in D-1 in PPG allowed (68.1).

In their last game, the UNC Greensboro Spartans took a defeat with a final score of 91-77 against Western Carolina. Regarding rebounds, UNC Greensboro allowed Western Carolina to get 28 overall (7 offensive). They went 46.2% from three-point range via 12 of 26 and ended up shooting 17 of 22 from the free throw line (77.3%). The Spartans allowed Western Carolina to convert 31 out of 59 tries from the field which had them shooting 52.5% for this contest. When the final whistle was blown, the Spartans ended up going 28 out of 54 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 51.9%. With regard to shooting from beyond the arc, UNC Greensboro converted 7 out of 19 tries (36.8%). They were able to convert 14 of those for a percentage of 70.0%. Western Carolina had 19 fouls in the matchup which took the Spartans to the free throw line for a total of 20 shots. They coughed up the ball 12 times, while getting 5 steals in the matchup. The Spartans were able to collect 19 defensive boards and 4 offensive rebounds totaling 23 in the matchup.

Justin Neely ended up being important for the Spartans for the matchup. He converted 13 of 18 in the matchup giving him a rate of 72.2%, and earned 8 rebounds. He had 35 points in his 37 mins on the hardwood and accumulated 4 assists in this contest.

UNC Greensboro has a win-loss mark of 12-16 for the year. When it comes to executing on offense, the Spartans are shooting 45.6% from the field, which ranks 155th in the nation. UNC Greensboro has scored 2,201 pts on the season (78.6 per game) and they collect 35.6 rebounds per game. They are assisting teammates 12.9 times per game (265th in the nation) and they lose possession via turnover 10.2 times per contest. The Spartans are committing 16.4 fouls every game and they hit 70.0% from the charity stripe.

The Spartans on the defensive side of the court are 340th in the country in PPG given up with 80.7. They are forcing 9.3 turnovers on a nightly basis and allow teams to shoot 46.0% from the floor (290th in the country). The UNC Greensboro defense concedes 36.5% on 3-pointers (293 of 802) and their opposition knocks down 70.9% of their free throw shots. They have surrendered 14.2 assists and 35.6 rebounds per game, which is ranked 248th and 248th in college hoops.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take East Tennessee State

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