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Richmond vs. George Washington Prediction and Odds (Bet Spiders as Road Favorites)

By Reed Wallach

Dec 22, 2020; Richmond, Virginia, USA; Richmond Spiders forward Grant Golden (33) shoots the ball
Dec 22, 2020; Richmond, Virginia, USA; Richmond Spiders forward Grant Golden (33) shoots the ball / Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
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Richmond's path to the NCAA Tournament is going to come through the Atlantic 10 Tournament and they will look to further their position by taking care of business against George Washington on Tuesday night.

GW has grabbed back-to-back victories to get above .500 in league play, and will look for their best win of the season against a quality Spiders team.

Here are the odds for this A-10 matchup from WynnBET Sportsbook:

Richmond vs. George Washington Odds, Spread and Total

Spread:

  • Richmond: -7 (-110)
  • George Washington: +7 (-110)

Moneyline:

  • Richmond: -300
  • George Washington: +240

Total: 141.5 (Over -110/Under -110)

Richmond vs. George Washington Prediction and Pick

I know it may seem precarious to back the Spiders as a considerable road favorite, I actually see them as the right side on Tuesday. If you look at the Spiders schedule, they have beat up on lowly opponents like GW and lost to the elite A-10 foes.

In league play, Richmond is 6-2 against teams outside KenPom's top 100 while they are 1-4 against opponents inside of the top 100 (George Washington is 219th). Notice the trend? Those six wins against the sub-100 opponents are by nearly 12 points per game also, so they can win with margin.

Meanwhile, GW has gone 0-5 against KenPom top 100 teams (Richmond is 95th), losing by an average margin of more than 19 points per game.

I'm a bit concerned of a potential look ahead spot with Richmond facing Saint Louis later this week, but I'm still going to lay it with the Spiders. Richmond's offense is the best unit on the floor with a top 10 turnover rate nationally and should have little issue scoring inside against a porous George Washington interior defense that is allowing opponents to score on nearly 53% of their two-point tries in league play.

The Spiders are fantastic at finishing inside, posting a top 50 efficiency mark around the rim this season and I see them getting quality looks all night long against GW that play at a top 100 pace but are outside the top 100 in offensive rebounding rate and free throw rate. Where are the easy points coming from for the home team?

Bet Richmond to stick to the season long trend and roll easy.

PICK: Richmond -7

All of Reed's college basketball plays can be tracked here, his best bets column for college basketball is 66-61-3 for +1.96 units.

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