Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks vs Rhode Island Rams Prediction, Odds, Best Bets - Week 2

Rhode Island is 3-0 at home and scoring 86.0 points a game heading into a visit from Maryland Eastern Shore. The Hawks are 1-3 and play slowly and defense first, which cuts both ways in a game lined this wide.

The Matchup

Maryland Eastern Shore visits Rhode Island on Thursday evening at the Thomas M. Ryan Center in Kingston, with Rhode Island a 23.5-point favorite, a total of 143.5, on ESPN+. It is the fifth game of the season for the Hawks and the fourth time they have had to go on the road to play it.

Maryland Eastern Shore is 1-3, scoring 61.5 points a game and allowing 70.8. The Hawks lost 62-83 at Wake Forest, lost 49-63 at High Point and lost 54-82 at Boston College, and their one win is 81-55 over Cheyney, a lower division opponent. Last season the Hawks went 9-23 in the MEAC, scoring 64.4 and allowing 70.8, so a low scoring, defense first team is who they have been for a while now. The Boston College game on Monday is the freshest picture, and it showed one Hawk who could score against a power conference defense and a starting five that otherwise struggled to get anything clean.

Rhode Island is 3-0, scoring 86.0 points a game and allowing 63.3, all three wins at home. The Rams beat Holy Cross 103-59 and Monmouth 84-66, then had to work for a 71-65 win over Maine on Monday.

Last season Rhode Island went 16-16 in the Atlantic 10, scoring 69.9 and allowing 68.2, which makes this offensive start the biggest change on either roster. A team that lived in the high 60s a year ago is suddenly pushing into the 80s and beyond, and whether that is real growth or a soft home schedule is the question hanging over a spread this large.

Isaiah Griffin and Bobby Gardner carry no injury designations for Maryland Eastern Shore, and Dylan Williamson and Jason Fontenet II carry no injury designations for Rhode Island.

Key Factors

Griffin is the reason this number is hard to lay with confidence. At Boston College he scored 23 points on 7-of-10 shooting and went 8-of-11 at the line, getting his points against the best defense Maryland Eastern Shore has faced.

Gardner added 12 points with 4 rebounds and 3 assists in the same game, so the Hawks do bring a second scorer who can handle the ball. An underdog getting this many points does not need to win the guard matchup. It needs one guard who keeps producing after the favorite's first run, and Griffin just did exactly that on the road Monday.

Rhode Island's soft spot is how ordinary it looked the last time out. Maine held the Rams to 71 points and lost by only 6, this after Rhode Island had scored 103 and 84 in its first two home games.

Williamson carried that Maine win with 18 points and 5 assists, and Fontenet added 13 points and 12 rebounds, but the easy early offense was gone once a defense sat down and guarded. Maryland Eastern Shore plays slowly and defends first by habit, and a slower game with fewer possessions makes 23.5 points a lot of ground to cover even for the better team.

The counterpoint is the Hawks' offense on its bad nights, and there have been several. Maryland Eastern Shore scored 49 points at High Point and 54 at Boston College, and a team that can be held in the 50s can lose by 30 without the favorite doing anything special.

Rhode Island is also at home for the fourth straight game while the Hawks are on the road for the fourth time in five. If the Rams' early season offense is real, this is over early. The bet is that a slow, stubborn underdog with one proven road scorer makes the favorite earn every point of a spread this size.

Every pick is published with its line before the game. Odds via consensus sportsbooks at time of writing and move constantly. Must be 21+. If gambling is a problem, call or text 1-800-GAMBLER.