Can McNeese State Begin New Winning Streak Tonight?
Peep at Texas A&M–Commerce vs McNeese St Odds For Monday's Matchup
After a brutal loss to Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday as heavy favorites, the McNeese State Cowboys are now 19-3 on the season and 8-1 in conference play.
The loss to Southeastern Louisiana was the first loss for McNeese since November. Therefore, they’ll be looking to bounce back with a home game against 8-13 Texas A&M-Commerce.
The Texas A&M-Commerce Lions are 8-14 on the season and sitting at 2-7 in conference play. Ironically enough, the Lions knocked off Southeastern Louisiana on the road, which is something McNeese State couldn’t do.
Are the Lions capable of pulling off an insane upset against McNeese?
Oddsmakers don’t think so. They’ve got McNeese State sitting at -18.5 with the total at 135.5. However, the Lions already knocked off a top-100-rated Saint Joseph’s team on the road earlier this season and played many higher-ranked teams earlier this season for moments like this one.
Take a look at the Texas A&M–Commerce vs McNeese St odds for this Monday college basketball matchup.
Lions vs Cowboys 
Day/Time:
Location: Legacy Center, Lake Charles, LA
Streaming: Watch Live Sports
Texas A&M–Commerce vs McNeese St Odds & Trends
The Texas A&M-Commerce Lions are 8-14 on the season and 8-11 against the spread in D1 games.
The Lions have hit the Under in 13 of 19 qualified matchups but have gone 2-9 on the road this season.
Meanwhile, McNeese State is 11-0 at home but has only won against the spread in 10 of 18 games this year. Still, the Over has hit in 11 of 18 qualified games this season.
Texas A&M-Commerce just recently joined the Southland Conference. Therefore, the Lions have only played the Cowboys in four games all time. A&M-Commerce added back-to-back wins against McNeese State to begin their tenure in the conference. However, McNeese State has added back-to-back wins since, including a 73-67 in early January.
Texas A&M-Commerce was an 11-point underdog and still covered the spread in the six-point loss.
Texas A&M-Commerce Is Gritty
This Texas A&M Commerce group is a gritty one. They don’t give up, no matter the score.
Last time out against Northwestern State, the Lions erased a 20-point deficit. However, the energy was sucked out of the team after that massive comeback, and they eventually lost by 13.
It isn’t easy to dig out of a hole as deep as the Lions were in during Saturday’s game. They used all their energy to get back into the game and then didn’t have enough to escape with the win, where they still lost by double-digits.
But with the Lions, no game is ever over. They’re going to continue to fight until the buzzer sounds. This team only lost to Kentucky by 20 and defeated top 200 NCAAB teams like Saint Joseph’s and Northern Colorado. They’re capable of playing at a high level. It just hasn’t been consistent enough this season.
The Streak Is Over, But Not The Season
The Cowboys had a 14-game winning streak snapped in a road loss to Southeastern Louisiana. That one hurt, mainly because the Cowboys were 9.5-point favorites in that game.
First-year McNeese State coach Will Wade spoke about the loss and used “disappointing” to describe the game’s outcome. He acknowledged that Southeastern Louisiana was the better team on Saturday and that McNeese State couldn’t finish the job.
Losses will happen. However, the Cowboys need to do a really good job to forget about this one and continue going about their business. They can’t allow losses to pile up and won’t want to get down on themselves after losing the winning streak.
A Complete Mismatch
The first matchup between Texas A&M Commerce and McNeese State was close. It was the first game of conference play, and McNeese State escaped with a 73-67 win.
McNeese State controlled the game throughout and led for most of it. However, the Lions had a couple of big drives that allowed them to get back in the game. Again, the Lions ran out of gas after their multiple comebacks from being down.
Against Texas A&M Commerce, the Cowboys shot just 32.1% from inside the arc but got 43 foul shot attempts and nailed 31 of them. That’s ultimately what helped them win the game.
On the other hand, the Lions added 58.3% from inside the arc but shot poorly from three and didn’t get nearly as many foul-shot attempts.
McNeese State should shoot better from the floor inside the arc in this game. After all, the Cowboys have added 50.6% from inside the arc, while the Lions have allowed opponents to shoot 52.5% from inside the arc.
Conversely, McNeese State hasn’t defended the three very well. But the Lions have only hit 28.6% from three and have been one of the worst offenses in college basketball this season.
Texas A&M-Commerce has hit only 48.5% from inside the arc and has grabbed just 24% of offensive rebounds with a low foul shot rate.
McNeese State will still win the foul shot battle and should ultimately shoot much better from the floor. The Cowboys have nailed 40.7% from three, and while they don’t shoot three religiously, they take good looks and bury them.
There won’t be too many NCAA basketball scores to follow with today’s slate. This is one of the few games that has some appeal to loyal college basketball fans.
While Texas A&M-Commerce won’t have any odds to win March Madness, McNeese State could find itself in the tournament as a 12 seed or worse.
We believe a bounceback is in the cards for the Cowboys. With our NCAAB free picks, we’ll back the Cowboys at -18.5 (-110) after reviewing the Texas A&M-Commerce vs McNeese St odds.
For NCAA basketball schedule, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
