Missouri State Bears vs Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Prediction, 3/13/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Missouri State Bears vs Louisiana Tech Bulldogs

Date: Friday, March 13, 2026

Location: Propst Arena in Huntsville, AL

TV: CBSSN

Odds/Point Spread: Missouri State (+2)

Propst Arena is where the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (18-13) will meet the Missouri State Bears (16-17) on Friday in the Conference USA Semifinals. Louisiana Tech opens this contest as 2-point favorites. The total has been set at 132.5.

The Missouri State Bears played Liberty and took home the win by a score of 77-69 in their last game. Missouri State finished the contest with a 56.0% field goal percentage (28 of 50) and converted 8 out of their 16 three-point shots. At the free throw line, the Bears converted 13 of 22 tries for a percentage of 59.1%. With regard to getting rebounds, they earned 28 with 4 of them being offensive. They also doled out 14 assists for the contest in addition to forcing the other team into 8 turnovers and earning 3 steals. With regard to defense, Missouri State allowed the other team to shoot 42.9% from the field on 27 out of 63 shooting. Liberty earned 15 dimes and had 7 steals in this contest. In addition, Liberty snagged 26 rebounds (9 offensive, 17 defensive), but wrapped up the game with no rejections. Liberty finished 66.7% when shooting free throws by knocking down 6 of 9 shots. They made 9 out of their 31 attempts from distance. Concerning personal fouls, the Bears ended up with 13 while Liberty totaled 18 personal fouls.

Michael Osei-Bonsu is a guy who was a major contributor in the matchup. He notched 31 points on 14 out of 16 shooting. He was on the court for 34 mins and also pulled down 8 rebounds. He shot 87.5% from the floor and also recorded 4 assists.

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Missouri State heads into this matchup with a win-loss mark of 16-17 on the season. They have an average of 75.3 points per outing (191st in the nation) while shooting 45.0% from the field. The Bears are connecting on 33.1% on shots from beyond the arc (253 of 764) and 67.6% from the charity stripe. As a unit, Missouri State is pulling in 34.8 boards per contest and has totaled 479 dimes this year, which is 115th in the country in terms of passing the ball. They turn the ball over 11.3 times per game and as a team they are committing 17.6 fouls per contest.

Defensively, the Bears are able to force 11.6 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 18.6 personal fouls. They are giving up 34.0% on shots from distance and they are ranked 181st in D-1 in opponents PPG (73.7). The Bears are allowing and opponent field goal percentage of 45.3% (848 of 1,872) and they concede 33.7 rebounds per contest as a squad. They rank 176th in the country in allowing assists to the opposition with 421 surrendered on the season.

In their last game, the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs walked away with a victory by a final of 81-38 when they faced Delaware. Regarding how they cleaned up the glass, Louisiana Tech allowed Delaware to grab 18 overall (6 offensive). They went 20.7% from downtown via 6 out of 29 and ended up going 10 out of 11 from the charity stripe (90.9%). The Bulldogs permitted Delaware to convert 11 of their 48 tries from the floor which left them with a rate of 22.9% in this contest. Overall, the Bulldogs shot 32 for 59 from the floor which gave them a rate of 54.2%. In regard to shooting from beyond the arc, Louisiana Tech made 10 of their 23 tries (43.5%). They were able to knock down 7 of the free throws for a clip of 87.5%. Delaware committed 7 personal fouls for the contest which took the Bulldogs to the charity stripe for a total of 8 shots. They turned the ball over 10 times, while earning 14 steals in this matchup. The Bulldogs collected 29 defensive rebounds and 10 offensive rebounds totaling 39 in the matchup.

Avery Thomas II ended up being a factor for the Bulldogs in this game. He racked up 20 points in his 22 minutes on the court and totaled 2 assists for this game. He buried 7 of 9 for this game for a rate of 77.8%, and accumulated 6 rebounds.

Louisiana Tech has a record of 18-13 on the year. As an offensive unit, the Bulldogs are shooting 44.4% from the field, which is 232nd in college. Louisiana Tech has scored 2,166 pts so far this year (69.9 per game) and they average 38.6 boards per contest. They are earning an assist 12.7 times per contest (275th in D-1) and they are losing possession via turnover 12.6 times per game. The Bulldogs commit 16.1 fouls per contest and they shoot 65.9% from the charity stripe.

The Bulldogs on defense are ranked 8th in college hoops in points per game surrendered with 64.6. They are forcing 12.4 TO's every game and allow teams to shoot 39.0% from the field (10th in college). The Louisiana Tech defense gives up 32.8% on 3-pointers (264 of 804) and opponents are making 69.9% of their free throw attempts. They have given up 12.1 assists and 32.9 boards per contest, ranking them 79th and 84th in the nation.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Missouri State (+2)

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