Odds & Pick for Drake vs. Missouri State College Basketball: Bet Bulldogs to Stay Undefeated ATS

Odds & Pick for Drake vs. Missouri State College Basketball: Bet Bulldogs to Stay Undefeated ATS article feature image
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  • In the second night of a back-to-back, the Drake Bulldogs will look to stay undefeated SU and ATS as they take on the Missouri State Bears on the road.
  • The Bulldogs erased a 15-point deficit at halftime to stay perfect, so the Bears will need to tighten up tonight if they want to end Drake's streak.
  • BJ Cunningham breaks down the game below and shares a betting pick based on his analysis.

Drake vs. Missouri State Odds


Drake Odds
-3.5
Missouri State Odds
+3.5
Moneyline
-180 / +152
Over/Under
143.5
Time | TV
Wednesday, 9 p.m. ET | ESPN+
Odds as of Wednesday morning and via FanDuel. Get up to a $1,000 risk-free bet at FanDuel today.

The Drake Bulldogs do not have any quit in them, even after a three-week layoff.

After trailing by 15 points at the break against Missouri State last night, the Bulldogs rallied to win and cover as 3.5-point favorites, which means they are now a perfect 12-0 against the spread.

The streak continues ✅

Drake moves to 12-0 ATS this season

If you rolled over the payout on each win, you'd be up $234K 💰 pic.twitter.com/yALsq4adjy

— The Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) January 27, 2021

The Bulldogs will now need to start out better than they did on Tuesday to keep their undefeated season alive.

Missouri State fell to 9-2, with the loss but is still within striking distance in the Missouri Valley. The Bears will need a win on Wednesday to have any shot at contending for the conference title.


When Drake has the ball

Drake's offense wasn't the reason for the comeback last night, but it's the main reason it's undefeated.

The Bulldogs can score from all over the floor, as they're the No. 4 3-point shooting team in the country and the eighth-ranked team in terms of effective field goal percentage.

Few things went right for the Bulldogs on Tuesday, as they managed only 0.92 points per possession. They struggled in almost every aspect, shooting only 36.8% from the floor, but 42 second-half points were enough to get the win.

You could chalk their first-half struggles up to a long layoff, but the Bulldogs' offense will undoubtedly be ready out of the gates on Wednesday.

Missouri State did everything right to slow down Drake's offense but couldn't come up with the victory after holding the Bulldogs to under 40% from 2-point range and under 30% from deep. It also allowed Drake to grab only nine offensive rebounds, which is well below its season average.

The biggest problem for the Bears was they couldn't turn Drake over; the Bulldogs committed only five total turnovers on Tuesday.

The other reason their defense struggled was that they allowed Drake to get to the free-throw line 20 times. Outside of free throws, they'll need to have a repeat performance on defense if they want any chance at getting a split.

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When Missouri State has the ball

The reason for the collapse for the Bears was because of their offense, which scored only 20 points in the second half.

They couldn't hit anything from deep, draining only two 3-pointers the entire game. The other main issue was they couldn't hang onto the ball, as they turned it over to the Bulldogs 16 times.

Now, the Bears did have a lot of success going to the basket, as they shoot the highest percentage in the country on shot attempts at the rim, per Hoop-Math. They'll need to continue to get to the rack as much as possible if they want to hand Drake its first loss.

The Bulldogs put the clamps down in the second half on Tuesday and really didn't allow the Bears to get going offensively. Drake held Missouri State to only 0.87 points per possession, which is coincidentally its average on defense for the season.

Now, Drake has had the benefit of playing an easy schedule, and the first half was a wake-up call. But they answered the bell in the second half.

Drake will need to continue to force Missouri State away from the basket into a lot of 3-point attempts if it's going to stay undefeated.


Betting Analysis & Pick

Missouri State had its chance to end Drake's perfect season, and it blew it.

The Bulldogs were clearly rusty in the first half after the long layoff, but they seem to have found their groove. I think it's going to be really difficult for Missouri State to put up another defensive performance like it did on Tuesday.

I'm going to back the Bulldogs at -3.5 to remain perfect against the spread.

Pick: Drake -3.5. play up to -4

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