Nebraska-Omaha vs Western Illinois 12/22/21 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Western Illinois Leathernecks and the Omaha Mavericks meet Wednesday in college basketball action from Baxter Arena. Western Illinois is 10-2 so far this year. The Leathernecks beat Denver in their last game. As for Omaha, they’re 1-11 and coming off a loss to St. Thomas MN. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place. 

Western Illinois went on a 4-2 run to open the season. The losses in that time were to DePaul and Eastern Michigan. Since then it’s been six straight wins over Miami-OH, Ball State, TN-Martin, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan and Denver. 

In the Denver matchup on Monday, the Leathernecks outscored the Pioneers 13-9 in overtime to power out a comeback victory. Leading scorer Trenton Massner went off for 31 points, nine rebounds and four assists during the win. 

Over on the Omaha side, it’s been a rough run so far. The Mavericks won their opener, then fell to Ball State, Kansas State, Montana, Texas Tech, Purdue, SIUE, Eastern Washington, Drake, Texas A&M-CC, UNLV and St. Thomas MN in succession. 

On Monday versus St. Thomas MN, the Mavericks fell behind 46-23 at halftime. Despite 50 second-half points, Omaha couldn’t crawl back in during an 80-73 loss. Marco Smith led the team on 19 points with six assists. 

The Mavericks are 4-1 ATS in their last five Wednesday games and 2-7 ATS in their last nine after a straight-up loss. Omaha is 2-10 ATS in their last 12 at home. 

Meanwhile, the Leathernecks are 14-5 ATS in their last 19 overall and 6-2 ATS in their last eight as a favorite. The over is 11-5 in Western Illinois’ last 16 road games. 

PICK: I’ve got to stay with Western Illinois in this one. The Leathernecks have been scoring quite well over this six-game win streak, with 71 or more points in each outing. The Denver game provided a bit of a scare, but Western Illinois gets credit for gritting out the OT win. 

As for Omaha, they’ve hit 70 or more points in each of their last five games. Trouble is, they’ve given up 78 or more in each game as well. This should be another high-scoring affair; if Western Illinois gets their offense going they should be fine on a cover.