The Denver Pioneers and the North Dakota State Bison meet Friday in college basketball action from Scheels Center. 

Denver comes into this one at 1-10 overall. The Pioneers have lost 10 straight, most recently to Oral Roberts. As for the Bison, they’re 7-7 so far. North Dakota State is coming off a split pair of games versus North Dakota. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place. 

Denver managed a win over Regis CO in their first outing of the year. Since then however, it’s been 10 straight losses. Those defeats have come courtesy of UC Riverside, Wyoming, Dixie State, Northern CO, Texas State, Northern AZ, South Dakota and Oral Roberts. 

In Saturday’s 91-82 loss to the Eagles, Denver’s lead scorer was Jase Townsend on 35 points with five boards and three assists. The only other player in double-figures there was Sam Hines with 16 points, 10 rebounds and one assist in 36 minutes on the floor. 

Over on the North Dakota State side, they began their season with an ugly 0-5 losing skid against a few tough teams. Since then the Bison have beaten South Dakota, North Dakota Western Illinois and Omaha with losses to TCU and North Dakota. 

In the 82-78 OT loss to North Dakota on Saturday, North Dakota State’s Rocky Kreuser led the way on 32 points with 10 rebounds. Tyree Eady also doubled up with 10 points and 13 boards, and Sam Griesel chipped in 11 points with seven rebounds and three assists in 42 minutes. 

The over is 4-1 in the Bison’s last five overall and 5-1 in their last six Friday games. North Dakota State is 4-1 ATS in their last five home games and 5-0 ATS in their last five after a straight-up loss. 

Meanwhile, the Pioneers are 4-1 ATS in their last five after an ATS win and 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games overall. The over is 5-2 in Denver’s last seven games overall and the under is 5-1 in their last six road games. 

PICK: I’m going to stick with North Dakota State here. Denver is sitting on an ugly losing streak, but that’s a little deceiving as the Pioneers have had several near-miss games in that stretch—including 88-84 against Oral Roberts last Friday. Still, when the Bison are playing to their capabilities they should be more than able to dispatch the Pioneers. Should be an interesting matchup but still I think ND State has the cover edge.