Stephen F. Austin vs UNC Asheville 3/19/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks and the UNC-Asheville Bulldogs meet in a CBI First Round matchup in college basketball action from the Ocean Center on Saturday afternoon.

The UNC-Asheville Bulldogs come into the CBI on behalf of the Big South conference, finishing the year at 15-16, including an 8-8 mark in conference play to finish as the #5 seed. The Bulldogs exited the Big South tournament early after being upset by bottom-seeded Charleston Southern in the first round. Drew Pember leads the Bulldogs in scoring and rebounding with 15.4 PPG and 6.4 RPG while Taijon Jones has 12.6 PPG with 5.7 RPG. LJ Thorpe has 13.8 PPG with 3.6 RPG and 3.6 APG to make up the trio of double-digit scorers for UNC-Asheville this season. As a team, UNC-Asheville is averaging 74.8 PPG on 45.5% shooting from the field , 35.3% from three and 73% from the foul line while allowing 67.8 PPG on 43.1% shooting from the field and 27.6% from three this season.

The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks come into the CBI repping the WAC, finishing the year at 22-9, including a 14-4 mark in WAC conference play to earn a three-way share of the regular season championship and the #3 seed. The Lumberjacks stay in the conference tournament was short-lived though, as the Lumberjacks were upended by Abilene Christian. Gavin Kensmil leads the Lumberjacks in scoring and rebounding with 16.7 PPG and 6.8 RPG while Roti Ware has 11.3 PPG to cap off the scoring in double figures for SFA so far this season. David Kachelries also has a team-high 3.8 APG as well as 9.6 PPG and three other Lumberjacks have at least 9 PPG this season. As a team, Stephen F. Austin is averaging 75.2 PPG on 47.8% shooting from the field, 33.6% from three and 67% from the foul line while allowing 67.8 PPG on 42.3% shooting from the field and 31.3% from three this season.

UNC-Asheville is 1-6 ATS in their last 7 neutral site games and 9-4 ATS in their last 13 games as an underdog while the over is 4-1 in their last 7 games overall. Stephen F. Austin is 1-4-1 ATS in their last 6 games as a favorite and 20-8-1 ATS in their last 29 Saturday games while the over is 4-1 in their last 5 games overall.

I get the case to be made either way here, but while I lean Stephen F. Austin, I feel better backing the over here. These are two higher-scoring teams and the Bulldogs are used to being involved in shootouts from being in the Big South. Stephen F. Austin plays solid defense, but the offense is pretty good also and I think this could end up as a game where both get into the 70s so give me the over here.