The Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders and the UAB Blazers meet Saturday in college basketball action from Bartow Arena. Middle Tennessee is fresh off a Thursday matchup versus Western Kentucky. The Raiders ended up losing that game by four. As for UAB, they played North Texas in their Thursday game. In that one the Blazers fell by three points in double overtime. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders
Middle Tennessee managed to go a spotty 9-7 over their first 16 games of the year. The Blue Raiders hit a 6-2 stretch over the next eight however, beating Rice, UAB, Charlotte, LA Tech, UTEP and UTSA in that time.
In the Thursday game versus Western Kentucky, the Raiders took a 49-39 deficit into the locker room. Middle Tennessee got better with 50 points in the second half but still lost 89-93. Eli Lawrence put up 21 points and seven rebounds in the defeat.
UAB Blazers
Over on the UAB side, they managed a pretty solid 12-4 run over their first 16 outings of the season. UAB went 5-3 over the next eight games, beating Louisiana Tech (twice), Rice, Florida Atlantic and Florida International in that time.
Matched up against North Texas on Thursday, the Blazers scored 25 points in the first half, 37 in the second and 17 across two overtime periods in a tough 82-79 loss. Leading the way was Jordan Walker with 20 points and four assists.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’ll stay with UAB here. The Blazers are coming off a tough loss to North Texas, hitting just 5-of-10 from the line and getting out-rebounded 39-32. It was still a decent effort, but the defeat snaps a four-game win streak. The good news is that the Blazers have scored 70 or more points in four straight and should put up a solid total here. UAB has some extra motivation given the results the last time these teams met: a 74-73 overtime win for Middle Tennessee back on January 16 at Murphy Center. If the Blazers can shake off that Thursday loss and regroup I think they’ll be primed for revenge in this rematch. Should be a good one.