The Colorado State Rams (4-0) and Charleston Cougars (3-1) tangle in a semifinal game of the 8-team Shriners Children's Charleston Classic Friday in Charleston. The opening tip at TD Arena will be at 5 p.m. ET (ESPN2). Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook’s lines around the Colorado State vs. Charleston odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.
Colorado State advanced to this semifinal with an 85-53 rout of the South Carolina Gamecocks Thursday. The favored-by-1 Rams outshot USC by a wide margin, out-rebounded their opponents handily and won the turnover battle. CSU shot 58.3% from the floor and has shot 50%-or-better in each game this season.
Charleston leveraged a dozen 3-pointers and a hefty advantage on the boards in taking down Davidson 89-66 Thursday. The up-tempo Cougars have tallied 85 points or more in each of their 4 games this season. Charleston has thus far played a solid schedule; its lone loss was to No. 1 North Carolina (102-86) Nov. 11.