Middle Tennessee vs UAB Pick – Basketball Predictions & Odds 1/16/23

The UAB Blazers and the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders meet Monday in college basketball action from Murphy Center. UAB is 13-5 overall this year. The Blazers beat LA Tech in their last game. As for Middle Tennessee, they’re sitting at 10-7 on the season after a win over Rice. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

UAB managed a 10-2 run over their first 12 games with losses to only Toledo and West Virginia. The Blazers have since gone 3-3 with losses to Florida Atlantic, Florida International and Western Kentucky along the way. 

In their Saturday game versus Louisiana Tech, the Blazers were down 35-34 going into the second half. UAB hit a 47-39 run from there and won it 81-74. Eric Gaines was the top scorer on 22 points with six assists. 

Over on the Middle Tennessee side, they were 8-4 after 12 games with losses to Winthrop, Missouri State, St. Bonaventure and Chattanooga. The Raiders are 2-3 in their last five with wins over Western Kentucky and Rice. 

Matched up against Rice last Wednesday, the Raiders were down 36-22 at the break. Middle Tennessee stormed back with a 49-32 second half and won the comeback 71-68. Eli Lawrence topped the team on 21 points. 

PICK: I’ll probably stick with UAB. The Blazers haven’t been especially impressive over this 1-3 run, and they’re coming off a sketchy appearance versus LA Tech. That said, UAB has been scoring great; they’ve hit 70 or more points in every game so far this year. As for Middle Tennessee, they’ve managed 67 points or fewer in three of the five games during this current 2-3 stretch. If the Blazers get off to a good start in this one I think they’ll be fine cover/win-wise.