The Omaha Mavericks and the North Dakota Fighting Hawks meet Saturday in college basketball action from the Betty. Omaha is coming off a Thursday game versus North Dakota State. In that one the Mavericks lost by seven points. As for North Dakota, they played Denver in their last matchup. The Hawks ended up falling by two. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Omaha has had difficulties staying consistent this year. The Mavericks began the season at 3-12 with wins over Hastings, Western Illinois and North Dakota. After another six-game losing streak, Omaha managed another win over Kansas City last weekend.
On Thursday versus North Dakota State, Omaha was outscored 34-37 in the first half and 30-34 from there in a 71-64 result. Felix Lemetti was the leading scorer on 17 points with five assists, and Darrius Hughes added 12 points.
Over on the North Dakota side, they managed a 4-8 start this year with victories over Montana, Troy, Presentation and North Central MN. The Hawks then hit a lengthy losing streak in mid-December and couldn’t get anything going.
Matched up against Denver on Thursday, North Dakota had a six-point halftime lead but couldn’t hang on and eventually went to overtime. The Hawks lost 81-79 in a tough one. Paul Bruns was the top team scorer on 22 points and five rebounds.
The Hawks are 3-8 ATS in their last 11 after an ATS loss and 5-14 ATS in their last 19 overall. The over is 9-3 in North Dakota’s last 12 Saturday games.
Meanwhile, the Mavericks are 2-6 ATS in their last eight Saturday games and 7-2 ATS in the last nine overall. Omaha is 5-1 ATS in their last six after an ATS win.
PICK: I’m probably staying with Omaha here. Granted, there’s not much intrigue with this matchup; both teams have struggled mightily this season. That said, the last time these teams met up, Omaha posted a 98-82 win at home. The Mavericks shot a nice 55.1 percent in that one, but North Dakota won the rebounding battle 40-37. This one certainly won’t be a carbon copy of that matchup, but it should be competitive all the same. I like the Mavs to power out the cover, despite the loss Thursday.