Davidson vs Wright State Predictions, Spread & Odds (Nov. 9)

• The Davidson Wildcats visit the Wright State Raiders on Wednesday, November 9th
• Davidson easily won their season opener 87-64 over the Guilford Quakers
• Check out the Davidson vs Wright State odds and picks below

New coach, but same last name for the man in charge of the Davidson Wildcats (1-0) this year. After 33 years at the helm and 634 career wins, longtime coach Bob McKillop retired and passed the torch to his son Matt, who played at Davidson from 2002-2006.

The Wildcats are slight 3.5-point favorites on Wednesday, November 8th, when they travel to Ohio to take on the Wright State Raiders. Tipoff for this contest is scheduled for 7:00 pm ET from the Nutter Center.

Davidson vs Wright State Odds

Odds as of November 8th at FanDuel Sportsbook. Claim the FanDuel Sportsbook promo code.

It’s a tight spread between last year’s Atlantic 10 regular season champions and their opponents from the Horizon League. Neither team is anywhere to be seen when you look at the top contenders in the odds to win March Madness, but both want to get off on the right foot and would relish a chance just to enter the tournament.

Davidson did make the tourney last year, falling in a heartbreaker to Michigan State 74-73. The Raiders made their fourth ever appearance in March Madness last season, winning a first four game before falling 87-70 to number 1 seed, Arizona in the first round.

THANK YOU #RaiderFamily!

What a ride this season was; not our night tonight but we won our first NCAA game in Raider history & tallied another #HLMBB title! Can't wait to #RaiderUP together next season! pic.twitter.com/VDQfKLYw78

— Wright State Men’s Basketball (@WSU_MBB) March 19, 2022

Davidson Wildcats Betting Analysis

The Wildcats did have their first taste of action on Monday, defeating Division-III Guilford College, 87-64 at home, granting their new head coach his first win as the lone man in charge.

Senior Foster Loyer returns this season after leading Davidson in scoring last year with 16.2 points per game. The point guard led the way in Davidson’s season opener with 30 points. Loyer is the star of this squad and projected to be an all-conference first-team pick.

BANG! Foster Loyer drills his fifth 3-pointer of the night and is up 23 points. pic.twitter.com/z7C9gkELGq

— Davidson Basketball (@DavidsonMBB) November 8, 2022

Beyond him, this Davidson squad is looking pretty raw. Loyer is the lone senior on a team that includes five juniors, while all the rest of the players are freshmen or sophomores. Despite winning the regular season title last season, analysts are expecting a fall from grace for this young squad this year as they were picked eighth in the preseason Atlantic-10 preseason poll.

Wright State Raiders Betting Analysis

It’s a tough out of conference matchup right off the hop for Wright State. While playing strong opponents early in the season can build team character, it can also damage a teams confidence if they lose too many games.

⏰ WE PLAY BASKETBALL THIS WEEK! See you at the Nutter Center on Wednesday night!#RaiderUP | #RaiderFamily pic.twitter.com/Js8fiIrpqM

— Wright State Men’s Basketball (@WSU_MBB) November 6, 2022

That’s what happened last season when the Raiders started off just 2-7. However, they recovered admiringly, capturing the Horizon League tourney as a four seed and winning an NCAA game in the First Four in Dayton.

They did have a couple big departures in the off-season. Gone are Tanner Holden and Grant Basile, who both transferred to other schools. Holden played three seasons with the Raiders and finished 11th on the school’s career scoring list with 1,481 points, while Basile is 21st with 1,228. Both are in the top 10 in career rebounds.

Despite those two key losses, the Raiders were still picked to finish third in the Horizon League preseason poll.

Davidson vs Wright State Prediction

Long time Wright State coach Scott Nagy obviously isn’t worried about maintaining his sparkling career record, as he has his team tackling an ambitious non-league schedule beginning with Davidson on Wednesday. The coach has admitted his team isn’t exactly where he wants them to be to start the season.

𝗨𝗣 𝗡𝗘𝗫𝗧‼️

🆚 Davidson
🗓 Wednesday
⏰ 7 p.m.
📍 Nutter Center
📺 ESPN+
📻 WONE 980 AM
🎟️ https://t.co/AzWgtvwfSI
🐺🎟️ @wrightstate students receive free admission + 1 free guest ticket
🏀 NCAA Mini Banner (1,000 fans) Champs Koozie (3,000 fans)#RaiderUP | #RaiderFamily pic.twitter.com/DzuwPSZS5j

— Wright State Men’s Basketball (@WSU_MBB) November 8, 2022

Their depth has taken a hit in the frontcourt with senior center C.J. Wilbourn out until at least Christmas because of foot surgery on top of dealing with Basile’s transfer to Virginia Tech.

It is the first home game for Wright State, so the crowd should give them an extra push, but it likely won’t be enough against a Davidson squad that is likely to be one of their toughest tests of the year. Although the Wildcats lost a lot of their clutch shooters from last season, expect Loyer to carry the load and deliver a decisive win over a lesser opponent.

Pick: Davidson Wildcats -3.5 (-110)