Howard Bison vs Michigan Wolverines Prediction, 3/19/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Howard Bison vs Michigan Wolverines

Date: Thursday, March 19, 2026

Location: KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY

TV: CBS

Odds/Point Spread: Michigan (-32)

KeyBank Center is the location where the Michigan Wolverines (31-3) will try to defeat the Howard Bison (23-10) on Thursday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Howard opens this matchup as 32-point dogs from oddsmakers. The betting total is set at 151.5.

The Howard Bison played UMBC and took home the win by a score of 86-83 in their last game. Howard wrapped up the contest with a 47.5% FG percentage (29 of 61) and knocked down 10 out of their 21 three-point shots. When they shot from the free throw line, the Bison knocked down 18 of 25 tries for a percentage of 72.0%. Regarding hauling in boards, they earned 37 with 11 of them being on the offensive end. They also dished out 14 assists in this matchup as well as creating 9 turnovers and having 3 steals. When talking about the defense, Howard let their opponent shoot 51.8% from the field on 29 out of 56 shooting. UMBC earned 11 assists and had 6 steals in the game. Furthermore, UMBC pulled down 32 rebounds (6 offensive, 26 defensive), but wasn't able to record a block. UMBC ended up shooting 66.7% from the charity stripe by converting 16 of their 24 tries. They also converted 9 of 22 attempts from beyond the perimeter. When discussing fouls, the Bison ended up finishing with 20 and UMBC finished the game with 20 fouls.

Ose Okojie is one player who came through for the game. He shot 60.0% from the floor but finished the game without an assist. He played 34 minutes and totaled 5 boards. He accumulated 23 points on 9 out of 15 shooting.

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Howard steps onto the court with a record of 23-10 on the campaign. They average 77.5 points per contest (139th in D-1) while connecting on 45.9% from the field. The Bison are shooting 34.5% on three-point attempts (220 of 637) and 73.1% from the free throw line. As a team, Howard is pulling down 36.6 rebounds per game and has totaled 535 dimes on the campaign, which ranks 55th in college hoops in terms of passing. They are losing possession via turnover 13.5 times per game and as a squad they commit 19.2 fouls per game.

On defense, the Bison are forcing 15.1 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 19.9 personal fouls. They give up 29.9% on shots from downtown and they rank 40th in college in points per game allowed (67.8). The Bison defense is allowing a shooting percentage of 41.8% (762 of 1,822) and they surrender 31.7 boards per game as a group. They rank 13th in Division 1 in allowing assists with 347 surrendered for the year.

When they last stepped on the hardwood, the Michigan Wolverines walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 80-72 when they faced Purdue. The Wolverines were able to pull down 21 defensive boards and 10 offensive boards totaling 31 in this game. They gave up possession of the ball 7 times, while earning 2 steals for this contest. Purdue was called for 13 fouls for this game which took the Wolverines to the free throw line for a total of 6 tries. They were able to make 5 of those for a rate of 83.3%. When discussing shooting from 3-point land, Michigan converted 7 of their 24 tries (29.2%). At the conclusion of this game, the Wolverines shot 30 for 64 from the field which gave them a percentage of 46.9%. The Wolverines permitted Purdue to convert 30 out of their 57 tries from the floor which had them shooting 52.6% in the matchup. They finished the game shooting 28.6% from behind the 3-point line by going 4 out of 14 and finished the game at 16 out of 22 from the free throw line (72.7%). Regarding rebounding, Michigan allowed Purdue to grab 25 in total (7 on the offensive side).

Yaxel Lendeborg ended up being a factor for the Wolverines for the matchup. He recorded 20 points in his 35 minutes on the hardwood and had 1 assist in this matchup. He made 8 of 14 for the contest giving him a field goal percentage of 57.1%, and accounted for 5 rebounds.

Michigan has a win-loss mark of 31-3 for the season. On the offensive side of the ball, the Wolverines are hitting on 50.5% from the field, which is ranked 8th in the country. Michigan has scored 2,952 points so far this year (86.8 per contest) and they collect 40.0 rebounds per contest. They are earning an assist 18.5 times per game (5th in the country) and they are turning it over 12.0 times per contest. The Wolverines are committing 15.6 fouls per contest and they connect on 74.7% from the free throw line.

The Michigan defense allows 30.2% on shots from 3-point land (272 of 901) and their opponents are making 75.1% of their free throw attempts. They allow 11.4 assists and 31.2 boards per game, which has them ranked 35th and 27th in college. The Wolverines are ranked 57th in college in points allowed per game with 69.2. They are forcing their opponents into 11.1 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 38.4% from the floor (3rd in D-1).

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Michigan (-32)

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