The UIC Flames and the Youngstown State Penguins meet in college basketball action from the Beeghly Center on Friday.

The UIC Flames will look to build off of back-to-back wins over Robert Morris, taking their last game in overtime by a final score of 66-62. Teyvion Kirk leads UIC in scoring, rebounding and assists with 14.7 PPG, 7.1 RPG and 7.3 APG while Rob Howard is 2nd in scoring with 12.3 PPG and 5.1 RPG and Michael Diggins and Rayquandis Mitchell each have 11.7 PPG with Diggins adding 6 RPG and 2.3 APG while Mitchell has 3.1 RPG this season. Braelen Bridges has 10.9 PPG with 4.9 RPG to make up the group of double-digit scorers for UIC coming into this game against Youngstown State. As a team, UIC is averaging 70.7 PPG on 42.8% shooting from the field, 34.4% from 3-point range and 65% from the foul line while giving up 70.2 PPG on 41.4% shooting from the field and 25.4% from 3-point range this season.

The Youngstown State Penguins will look to bounce back after an 81-74 loss to Oakland last time out. Naz Bohannon leads the Penguins in scoring and rebounding with 16.5 PPG and 8.4 RPG while Darius Quisenberry is 2nd in scoring and tops in assists with 13.7 PPG and 3.3 APG this season. Shemar Rathan-Mayes has 11.1 PPG with 3.2 APG and Garrett Covington has 10.8 PPG to make up the group of double-digit scorers for Youngstown State so far this season. Myles Hunter has 8.7 PPG and Michael Akuchie has 8.2 PPG with 6.9 RPG this season. As a team, Youngstown State is averaging 74.1 PPG on 42.4% shooting from the field, 28.4% from 3-point range and 68.1% from the foul line while giving up 73.6 PPG on 46.3% shooting from the field and 36.2% from 3-point range this season.

UIC is 9-4-1 ATS in their last 14 road games and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games following a win while the over is 4-0 in their last 4 games overall. Youngstown State is 5-1-1 ATS in their last 7 home games and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games against a team with a winning record while the over is 4-0 in their last 4 games against a team with a winning record.

I get why you could make Youngstown State the favorite at home, but the problem I have is that the Penguins didn’t look good against the Grizzlies in their set and the Penguins haven’t been convincing against the number at home this season, even with a 4-1 straight up record as their ATS record is just 0-1-1. UIC’s done alright against the number on the road, but I think they’re playing better over the last couple of weeks coming into this game so I’ll take the free point with UIC although it may just make sense to take UIC on the ML to get whatever extra value you can out of the bet.