UAB vs UNC Asheville College Basketball Picks, Odds, Predictions 11/9/2021

The UNC-Asheville Bulldogs and the UAB Blazers meet in college basketball action from Bartow Arena on Tuesday night.

The UNC-Asheville Bulldogs will look to build on a solid year in 2020-21, looking to build off of a 10-10 mark overall, including a 9-5 mark in Big South conference play to finish with the #4 seed heading into the conference tournament, but their stay in the Big South tournament was short-lived as the Bulldogs were eliminated by the Longwood Lancers in the quarterfinals, ending their season. The Bulldogs get a pair of their double-digit scorers from last season, bringing back Taijon Jones who had 15.9 PPG and 4 RPG last season while L.J. Thorpe had 11.6 PPG and 4.1 RPG. Trent Stephney also had 9.5 PPG and 3.3 RPG with 3.1 APG as the Bulldogs’ lead point guard. Quay Kimble is the wildcard transfer for UNCA after putting up 13.3 PPG and 5.3 APG in D-II last season. The Bulldogs have a lot of firepower in the chamber and it’s just a matter of execution for UNC-Asheville so time will tell if they can make the climb in the Big South.

The UAB Blazers will be looking to build on a 22-7 mark in 2020-21, including 13-5 in their conference schedule to finish with the #2 seed in the West. UAB took down Rice in the quarterfinals before falling to UAB in the semifinals. The Blazers bring back some solid pieces, including Tavin Lovan and Michael Ertel, with Lovan logging 12.2 PPG and 4 APG while Ertel had 13.2 PPG last season. Quan Jackson is the third returning double-digit scorer with 10.8 PPG and 5.3 RPG last season and 7-footer Trey Jemison also returns after a season where he had 7.1 PPG and 6.9 RPG. The Blazers also hit the transfer portal hard, bringing in top transfers like Jordan Walker from Tulane (13 PPG, 4.3 APG) and Tyreke Locure (13.5 PPG, 5 APG) from South Alabama. KJ Buffen transfers in from Ole Miss (8.4 PPG, 4.5 RPG) and Jamal Johnson (9.4 PPG, 2.5 RPG) from Auburn while Justin Brown (8.1 PPG, 3.3 RPG) comes in from USF. This UAB team is loaded and it’s just going to be about getting the pieces to come together, but if they do, watch out C-USA.

It may not sound like it when you hear UNC-Asheville vs. UAB, but I think this will be one of the more entertaining games on opening night. These are two teams with a ton of talent and I think we could end up seeing a track meet in this one. Look for this one to sail well over the total.