The Bryant Bulldogs take on the UMass Lowell River Hawks in Lowell, MA. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
Bryant is favored by 3.5 points on the spread with a moneyline of -160. The total is set at 161.5 points.
Here are my Bryant vs. UMass Lowell predictions and college basketball picks for February 27, 2025.
Bryant vs UMass Lowell Prediction
My Pick: Over 164 or Better
My Bryant vs UMass Lowell best bet is on the over, with the best odds currently available at FanDuel. For all of your college basketball bets, find the best lines using our live NCAAB odds page.
Bryant vs UMass Lowell Odds, Lines
| Bryant Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-3.5 -105 | 161.5 -110o / -110u | -160 |
| UMass Lowell Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+3.5 -115 | 161.5 -110o / -110u | +135 |
- Bryant vs UMass Lowell spread: Bryant -3.5
- Bryant vs UMass Lowell over/under: 161.5 points
- Bryant vs UMass Lowell moneyline: Bryant -160, UMass Lowell +135
- Bryant vs UMass Lowell best bet: Over 164 or Better
My Bryant vs UMass Lowell NCAAB Betting Preview
Considered by many to be the America East preseason favorites (including me), UMass Lowell is officially a corpse.
The River Hawks’ only two wins in the past month have come over UMBC, as they out-muscled the undersized Retrievers in both matchups. Otherwise, they’ve looked embarrassing in late-game collapses (Albany, New Hampshire) and blowout losses (Vermont, Binghamton, NJIT).
UMass Lowell is still among the league's most talented teams. If the River Hawks show some fight down the stretch, they could still be a good buy-low team in the America East Tournament.
But last week’s effort against Vermont (85-61 loss) tells me they’ve quit. They were uncompetitive from the start, and their continual lack of two-way effort and execution showed throughout the 40 minutes.
That low-grade effort shows mainly in the shot-volume battle, as the River Hawks boast the league’s second-worst rebound plus turnover differential (-56, per CBB Analytics). They can’t grab a rebound or fight for a 50/50 ball to save their lives.
That’s a problem against Bryant, as the lengthy, uber-athletic Bulldogs are shot-volume machines. They lead the league in turnover (14%, per KenPom) and offensive rebounding (35%, per KenPom) rates, thus leading the conference in rebound plus turnover differential (+111, per CBB Analytics).
Lowell’s rim-reliant, flex-motion offense is also a problem against Bryant, as the Bulldogs' isolation and rim funnel while leveraging their unmatched wing athleticism to paint-swarm and block every shot.
Finally, Lowell’s abhorrent transition defense is a problem against Bryant, which is among the nation’s most transition-reliant offenses.
So, it’s unsurprising that Bryant posted a 23-point win over Lowell in the first head-to-head matchup by:
- It held the River Hawks to 14-for-42 (33%) 2-point shooting with 11 blocks.
- It took 75 shot attempts to Lowell’s 68 by snagging 17 offensive rebounds and scoring 20 second-chance points.
- It scored 21 transition points on 22 possessions (.96 PPP).
It’s hard to imagine that Bryant won’t re-create that exact performance in the rematch against the corpse of Lowell, Massachusetts.
That said, Bryant hasn’t been playing its best ball of late either — I’m a tad worried the Bulldogs have peaked too early. They’ve failed to cover four of their past five games, posting two outright losses as favorites against Vermont and Albany.
So, I’d rather bet the over than take the Bulldogs as road favorites.
The Bulldogs should have no issues scoring fast-break and second-chance buckets, providing them a sustainable source of offense while simultaneously speeding the game up — the first game featured 75 possessions.
More importantly, the first game nearly cracked 150 despite the two combining to shoot 14-for-54 (26%) from 3. Bryant dropping 85 — while making just 8-of-28 3-point attempts is both wildly impressive and a damning indictment of the River Hawks’ defense.
Meanwhile, Lowell shot 0-for-7 on unguarded catch-and-shoot jumpers. Yuri Covington shot 1-for-7 from deep in that game, but he was slumping and has been shooting the rock much better of late. The lights-out Rafael Pinzon shot 2-for-8 from deep.
I don't expect any of these results to hold or repeat, so the rematch could be way higher scoring with typical shooting splits. For what it’s worth, ShotQuality graded the first game as an 89-84 Lowell win based on the “quality” of shots for both teams.
Also, both offenses are likely due for a bounce-back performance, given both played their last game against Vermont in Burlington. It’s always tough to score at Patrick Gymnasium, but the Catamounts’ defense has turned into a buzzsaw recently.
Plus, Bryant is likely due for some game-to-game shooting regression after hitting 4-for-21 (19%) from 3 in its loss to Vermont, including 2-for-14 (14%) on catch-and-shoot jumpers.
Altogether, I’m banking on another fast-paced Hawks-Dogs game that Bryant controls with its open-court and offensive-rebounding prowess, but I expect both teams to make a bunch more 3s in a barn-burner at Costello Athletic Center.
