Queens University Royals vs Oklahoma State Cowboys Prediction, Odds, Best Bets - Week 1

Queens University brings a 2-0 start and 199 points in two games into Gallagher-Iba Arena on Friday night, where Oklahoma State defends its home floor. The Cowboys allowed 83.2 points a game last season, Queens has not slowed down yet, and the 175.5 total is the highest on the Friday board.

The Matchup

Queens University visits Oklahoma State on Friday night at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, on ESPN+, with Oklahoma State a 19.5-point favorite and a total of 175.5, the highest total among these games. The total is the story: both teams play fast, both teams score, and the road team arrives as the hotter offense in the building.

Queens finished 21-14 last season, scoring 84.5 points a game and allowing 83.5. Oklahoma State finished 20-15, scoring 83.9 and allowing 83.2. Two games into this season, both teams have simply confirmed those identities. This season has only confirmed the identities: Queens is 2-0 after beating Winthrop 103-98 at a neutral site in Rock Hill and Loyola Marymount 96-95 on the road, while Oklahoma State opened with a 91-60 home win over Incarnate Word.

Gallagher-Iba is a genuine home court, and Oklahoma State's depth is real. But a favorite laying nearly twenty against a team that has scored 199 points in two games is betting that the road offense finally cools off, and nothing about Queens' first week suggests that is coming on Friday.

Key Factors

Queens' backcourt is playing as well as any mid-major backcourt in the country through two games. Jordan Watford scored 26 points with 7 rebounds and 8 assists against Winthrop, then added 20 points at Loyola Marymount. Nasir Mann scored 19 against Winthrop and then 28 at Loyola Marymount on 11-of-13 shooting, making 5 of his 6 threes. When two guards are scoring like that on the road already, the underdog does not need a fluke night to stay inside a big number. It needs its normal night.

Oklahoma State's weakness is the one Queens is built to attack. The Cowboys allowed 83.2 points a game last season, and their opener, impressive as it was, came against an Incarnate Word team that turned the ball over and shot its way out of the game early.

Oklahoma State's scoring was spread thin in that win, with Luka Bogavac the team high at 14 points and nobody else above 11, so the Cowboys build margins by committee. Committees score steadily, but they are vulnerable to a hot opposing backcourt trading baskets with them, which is exactly the game Queens wants at a total of 175.5.

The counterpoint is Queens' own defense, which has allowed 98 and 95 points in two wins and cannot be trusted to get the stops that protect a cover late. Oklahoma State is deeper, bigger, and at home, and a team that plays as fast as Queens also gives the favorite more possessions to pull away in the final ten minutes.

The Royals are also playing their second road game of the week after the trip to Los Angeles. The bet is that Watford and Mann are too good right now for this margin to hold, and that a shootout favors the team catching the points far more than the team laying them.

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.