The Myrtle Beach Invitational begins on Thursday afternoon in Conway, S.C., with a national television audience observing the festivities. The Davidson Wildcats take on the New Mexico State Aggies in a non-conference afternoon clash at HTC Center. Davidson is 1-1 this season after a 13-9 effort a year ago. New Mexico State (2-0) opened the 2021-22 season with back-to-back wins.

Tip-off is at 12 p.m. ET in Conway. Caesars Sportsbook lists Davidson as a two-point favorite, while the Over-Under, or total number of points Vegas thinks will be scored, is 133 in the latest Davidson vs. New Mexico State odds. Before you make any Davidson vs. New Mexico State picks and college basketball predictions, be sure to check out what SportsLine’s advanced computer model has to say.

The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every Division I college basketball game 10,000 times. Over the past five-plus years, the proprietary computer model has generated an impressive profit of almost $2,100 for $100 players on its top-rated college basketball picks against the spread. Anyone who has followed it has seen huge returns.

Now, the model has set its sights on Davidson vs. New Mexico State and it just locked in its coveted picks and predictions. You can head to SportsLine now to see its picks. Now, here are several college basketball odds and betting lines for Davidson vs. New Mexico State:

• Davidson vs. New Mexico State spread: Davidson -2 
• Davidson vs. New Mexico State over-under: 133 points 
• Davidson vs. New Mexico State money line: n/a 
• DAV: The Wildcats are 11-11-1 against the spread in the last 23 games 
• NMSU: The Aggies are 7-12 against the spread in the last 19 games

Why Davidson can cover

Davidson is regularly an effective offensive team, and that was the case last season. The Wildcats finished with a top-20 offense in the country on a per-possession basis in 2020-21, and Davidson was a top-eight team in the country in making 56.8 percent of two-point attempts. The Wildcats also bombed away from three-point range, attempting 48.3 percent of shots from deep, and connected on a very solid 35.7 percent of three-point attempts. 

Davidson takes care of the ball, turning the ball over on only 17 percent of possessions last year, and New Mexico State fell outside the top 250 in both block rate (6.9 percent) and steal rate (7.3 percent) last season. The Aggies were also well below-average in free throw prevention and two-point defense, and Davidson should have success defensively. The Wildcats were a top-15 team in defensive rebound rate (77.6 percent) last season, and Davidson is the more athletic and disciplined roster.

Why New Mexico State can cover

The Aggies have intriguing offensive talent, headlined by Sir’Jabari Rice and Teddy Allen. Rice led the team in scoring last season, and he is averaging 13.5 points per game in the early going. Allen averaged 16.5 points and 4.7 rebounds per game at Nebraska last season and is putting up 15.0 points and 5.0 rebounds after transferring to New Mexico State. The Aggies are very good on the offensive glass, grabbing 34.3 percent of misses last season, and New Mexico State can benefit from a Davidson defense that ranked outside the top 300 nationally in turnover creation in 2020-21. 

New Mexico State is also solid on defense, including a 31.8 percent mark allowed from three-point range. Davidson relies on three-point shooting at a high level, and the Wildcats are struggling at the free throw line, both with accuracy and volume. Finally, the Aggies are above-average on the defensive glass, grabbing 73.5 percent of available rebounds, which should help them to close possessions.

How to make Davidson vs. New Mexico State picks

SportsLine’s model is leaning over on the total, with 11 players projected to score at least seven points. The model also says one side of the spread hits in well over 60 percent of simulations. You can only see the model’s Davidson vs. NMSU pick at SportsLine.

So who wins Davidson vs. New Mexico State? And which side of the spread hits in well over 60 percent of simulations? Visit SportsLine now to find out which side of the Davidson vs. New Mexico State spread you need to jump on Thursday, all from the model that has crushed its college basketball picks, and find out.