UNC Greensboro vs. Western Carolina Best Bet & Prediction for Wednesday, Feb. 21

The UNC Greensboro Spartans (19-8) look for a sixth consecutive win over the Western Carolina Catamounts (19-8) in a big Southern Conference matchup at 6:00 PM EST Wednesday night.

UNC Greensboro has two straight double-digit wins thanks to a smothering defense, while Western Carolina comes in having covered the spread just once in their last six contests.

After the Spartans won 85-82 in overtime over the Catamounts on the road last month, they hope to sweep the season series and keep pace in the conference standings. With a modest spread, can they pull it off?

Here's a look at the odds before I give my best bet for the game:

UNC Greensboro vs. Western Carolina Odds, Spread and Total

UNC Greensboro vs. Western Carolina Betting Pick and Prediction

The Spartans are 3.5-point favorites with -172 moneyline odds and a total set at 139.5. They drilled 12-26 three-pointers in the first meeting between these squads and that advantage from beyond the arc will prove the difference once again this evening.

On the season, UNC Greensboro ranks 14th nationally in three-point shooting percentage (38.2%) while Western Carolina is 204th defensively (34.1%). The Catamounts are built to force teams to shoot inside, but the Spartans are 36th in three-point shooting rate, hoisting just under 44% of their shots from outside.

This represents a stylistic mismatch as a result. Mikeal Brown-Jones leads the Spartans in averaging 19.7 points and 7.8 rebounds per game while shooting 44.9% from three. He had 39 points in last month's win and I anticipate a dominant effort from him once again tonight.

Western Carolina ranks in the bottom 60 in both defensive turnover percentage and free throw rate. If you can't generate easy buckets in transition or points from the line, you'll lose the math battle to a team that fires up three-pointers as often and as effectively as UNC Greensboro does. That's what happened in the first game and it'll happen again tonight.

The Spartans are 7-2 against the spread in their last nine against the Catamounts. Trust the trends and the math - back UNC Greensboro to cover the 3.5-point spread.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.