FIU vs North Texas Pick – Basketball Predictions & Odds 1/16/23

The North Texas Mean Green and the FIU Panthers meet Monday in college basketball action from FIU Arena. North Texas enters this one at 14-4 overall. The Green lost to Florida Atlantic in their last game. As for FIU, they’re 8-9 on the season after a loss to Western Kentucky on Saturday. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

North Texas went 10-2 over their first 12 games. The only losses in that span came to Saint Mary’s and UNC Wilmington. The Green are 4-2 in their last six games with wins over FIU, Western Kentucky, Middle Tennessee and LA Tech. 

In Saturday’s matchup versus Florida Atlantic, the Mean Green were up 32-27 at the break. North Texas fell behind on a 39-30 second-half run and lost 66-62. Tylor Perry led the way on 18 points with seven rebounds in the defeat. 

Over on the FIU side, they were 6-6 in their first 12 games with losses to NC State, Bryant, Eastern Michigan, FGCU, Howard and FAU. The Panthers are 2-3 since then with losses to North Texas, FAU and Western Kentucky.

Matched up against the Hilltoppers on Saturday, the Panthers scored 29 points in the first half and 30 more in the second on the way to a flat 70-59 loss. Arturo Dean was the team’s leading scorer on 18 points with nine rebounds. 

PICK: I’ll probably stick with North Texas. The Mean Green need a bounce-back effort after a loss to a good FAU team on Saturday, though. The last time these teams met up on December 31 at UNT Coliseum, North Texas secured a 72-57 win thanks to a 35-20 first half. The Mean Green have scored 67 points or fewer in three of the four games since then, so they’ll need a solid offensive outing to bag the cover here. FIU has given up 70 or more points in three straight games though, so North Texas should have some opportunities.