UMBC Retrievers vs Howard Bison Prediction, 3/17/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: UMBC Retrievers vs Howard Bison

Date: Tuesday, March 17, 2026

Location: UD Arena in Dayton, OH

TV: truTV

Odds/Point Spread: UMBC (-2)

The Howard Bison (23-10) will go up against the UMBC Retrievers (24-8) at UD Arena on Tuesday in the First Four of the NCAA Tournament. UMBC opens this contest as 2-point favorites from Vegas oddsmakers. The total has been set at 139.

The UMBC Retrievers took the court against Vermont and walked away with a win by a score of 74-59 in their last game. In the matter of fouls, the Retrievers ended up with 12 and Vermont accumulated 14 fouls. They made 5 out of their 27 shots from three-point range. Vermont ended up going 40.0% at the free throw line by converting 4 of 10 attempts. In addition, Vermont pulled down 34 rebounds (15 offensive, 19 defensive), but couldn't earn a rejection. Vermont doled out 6 dimes and had 5 steals in the game. When discussing defense, UMBC allowed their opponent to shoot 42.4% from the field on 25 out of 59 shooting. They also doled out 15 assists in this game while creating 11 turnovers and having 10 steals. In reference to grabbing rebounds, they collected a total of 36 with 11 of them being of the offensive variety. At the free throw line, the Retrievers knocked down 22 of their 26 tries for a rate of 84.6%. UMBC ended with a 41.2% field goal percentage (21 out of 51) and made 10 of 26 shots from beyond the arc.

DJ Armstrong is someone who was a factor for this contest. He finished the game shooting 81.8% from the floor but wasn't able to get an assist. He was on the court for 36 minutes and snagged 2 rebounds. He walked away with 33 points on 9 of 11 shooting.

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UMBC enters this one with a mark of 24-8 for the campaign. They are turning it over 9.6 times per game and as a group they commit 13.3 fouls every game. As a team, UMBC is snagging 35.5 boards per game and has 389 dimes on the season, which ranks 304th in the country in terms of passing the ball. The Retrievers are connecting on 36.1% from downtown (259 of 717) and 76.2% from the charity stripe. They average 76.2 pts per game (167th in D-1) while shooting 47.1% from the floor.

On defense, the Retrievers have forced 10.3 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 15.3 personal fouls. They currently rank 8th in the country in giving up assists with 333 surrendered this year. The Retrievers defensively are giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 42.4% (806 of 1,903) and they surrender 33.1 boards per contest as a unit. They give up 31.0% on 3-point attempts and they are 30th in D-1 in points per game from their opponents (67.0).

When they last stepped on the court, the Howard Bison went home victorious with a score of 70-63 when they played North Carolina Central. When talking about cleaning up the glass, Howard permitted North Carolina Central to grab 24 in total (7 offensive). They finished 30.0% from beyond the arc by going 6 out of 20 and walked away from this one shooting 19 out of 23 from the free throw line (82.6%). The Bison allowed North Carolina Central to convert 19 of their 50 attempts from the field which gave them a rate of 38.0% in the matchup. Overall, the Bison shot 19 out of 52 from the field which gave them a percentage of 36.5%. When discussing three-point attempts, Howard knocked down 5 out of their 19 attempts (26.3%). They were able to make 27 of the free throw tries for a clip of 77.1%. North Carolina Central earned 32 fouls in this game which got the Bison to the charity stripe for a total of 35 attempts. They coughed up the ball 13 times, while earning 11 steals in the game. The Bison were able to collect 23 defensive rebounds and 10 offensive boards totaling 33 in this matchup.

Bryce Harris ended up being a factor for the Bison for the game. He recorded 14 points in his 35 minutes on the hardwood and accounted for 2 dimes for this contest. He made 4 of 10 for this contest for a field goal rate of 40.0%, and accumulated 10 rebounds.

Howard has a win-loss record of 23-10 for the year. The Bison are committing 19.2 fouls per contest and they hit 73.1% from the free throw line. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 16.2 times per game (52nd in D-1) and they are giving up possession 13.5 times per contest. Howard has totaled 2,556 pts so far this season (77.5 per game) and they pull in 36.6 boards per contest. On the offensive side of the court, the Bison are shooting 45.9% from the floor, which has them ranked 137th in D-1.

The Howard defense gives up 29.9% on 3-point attempts (188 of 628) and opponents are making 70.6% of their shots from the free throw line. They have surrendered 10.5 assists and 31.7 rebounds on a nightly basis, which is 9th and 38th in college hoops. The Bison defensively are ranked 40th in college hoops in points given up per game with 67.8. They are able to force 15.1 turnovers on a nightly basis and allow teams to shoot 41.8% from the field (55th in college).

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take UMBC (-2)

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