Central Arkansas vs North Alabama Pick – Basketball Predictions & Odds 1/18/23

The North Alabama Lions and the Central Arkansas Bears meet Wednesday in college basketball action from Farris Center. North Alabama is 9-10 overall this year. The Lions lost to Queens NC in their last game. As for Central Arkansas, they’re 6-13 on the season and fresh off a loss to Liberty. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

North Alabama Lions

North Alabama hit a 9-5 run through their first 14 games with losses to MS Valley State, UCSB, Georgia Tech, Memphis and Colorado. The Lions are 0-5 since then with losses to Bellarmine, Lipscomb, Stetson, Liberty and Queens NC. 

Matched up against Queens NC on Saturday, the Lions were drilled 56-32 in the first half. North Alabama fell further behind on a 51-46 second half and lost 107-78. KJ Johnson was the leading scorer on 17 points. 

Central Arkansas Bears

Over on the Central Arkansas side, they were 5-9 after 14 games with wins over Hendrix, Little Rock, Rider, Idaho State and Arkansas State. The Bears are 1-4 since then with losses to FGCU, Eastern Kentucky, Austin Peay and Liberty. 

In the Liberty game on Saturday, the Bears were down 43-29 going into the second half. Central Arkansas was outscored 39-33 from there and lost 82-62. Both Camren Hunter and Johannes Kirsipuu scored 14 points apiece. 

ANDREW’S FREE PICK

I’ll probably lean North Alabama here. Also probably not touching it, though; there’s not a ton of intrigue in this matchup. North Alabama has been giving up a ton of points during this 0-5 stretch; they’ve surrendered 69 or more in each of those outings and 86 or more in three of their last four. Central Arkansas has posted 62 points in two of their last three games and given up quite a bit on the other side themselves: 77 or more in nine of their last 10 outings. This one will be a high-scoring finish if both teams play to their capabilities.