South Carolina Upstate Spartans vs Campbell Fighting Camels Prediction, Odds, Best Bets - Week 2

Campbell is 0-3, shooting 39 percent and getting outrebounded nightly, yet favored by 8.5 over an Upstate team with the far better defense.

The Matchup

South Carolina Upstate visits Campbell on Saturday at the John W. Pope Jr. Convocation Center in Buies Creek, on FloSports, with Campbell favored by 8.5 points, a total of 147.5, and the Camels priced at -325 on the moneyline. The line is the puzzle in this game: Campbell is 0-3 and has been beaten soundly, and Upstate is 1-3 with the better defense and the better recent form of the two.

Campbell scores 62.7 points a game and allows 79.3. Rashawn Inglemon leads the Camels at 21.3 points a game, a genuine scorer, but the help is thin: AJ Wright Jr. hands out 5.0 assists a game, Lance Waddles leads them at 7.7 rebounds a game, and as a team Campbell shoots 39 percent from the field, 24 percent from three, and rebounds just 29.0 a game. Inglemon, Wright, and Waddles carry no injury designations.

South Carolina Upstate scores 75.0 points a game and allows 68.8, the stronger defensive profile in this game by a distance. David Tubek leads the Spartans at 14.5 points and 6.5 rebounds a game, and the Spartans rebound 43.5 a game, a huge edge on a Campbell team that cannot finish possessions.

Tubek carries no injury designation. The caveat is that Upstate's defensive start reverses its own history: the Spartans allowed 73.7 a game last season while winning 13 games, and Campbell won 16 games last season scoring 79.1 a game, so the Camels' broken offense, 62.7 a game through three games, is the number in this matchup least likely to be who they really are.

Key Factors

The glass decides whether Campbell's home court matters. Upstate at 43.5 rebounds a game against Campbell at 29.0 is a mismatch that gives the road team second chances and takes away the Camels' transition game at the same time. A favorite that cannot rebound cannot build a margin, and Campbell has not rebounded against anyone.

Inglemon is Campbell's case, and he is a good one. At 21.3 points a game he is the best scorer on the floor, and if Upstate's defense, for all its good numbers, has to send help at him all night, Wright's passing at 5.0 assists a game finds the open Camel. Upstate's counter is balance: Tubek leads a team that does not depend on one man, and balance survives a cold night better than a one man offense does.

The honest counterpoint is that Campbell is home, due, and facing a 1-3 team, not a contender. The Camels won 16 games last season in this program, Inglemon can hang thirty on a defense that has not seen him, and if Campbell's shooting returns toward last season's 79.1 points a game for one afternoon, the favorite wins this comfortably and the early numbers were just a bad fortnight.

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.