UTEP vs Southern Utah 3/22/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Southern Utah Thunderbirds and the UTEP Miners meet Tuesday in college basketball action from the Basketball Classic at Don Haskins Center. Southern Utah is 21-11 overall on the year so far. the Thunderbirds beat Kent State in their last game. As for UTEP, they’re sitting at 20-13 and took out Western Illinois in their most recent outing. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place. 

Southern Utah lost three of their first four games and had another rough 1-3 stretch in February. Outside of that however, the Thunderbirds have been chugging along with consistency this season. After a tough loss to Portland State in the conference tourney, Southern Utah beat Kent State in Basketball Classic activity back on Wednesday. 

In the Kent State matchup, the Thunderbirds trailed by one point going into the second half. Southern Utah hit a 49-44 run from there in an 83-79 win. Tops in scoring was Dre Marin on 27 points with five assists, three steals and three boards. 

Over on the UTEP side, they similarly had a few of rough runs this year—1-4 in January, 2-4 in February, etc.—but overall the Miners have done pretty well. Following an OT loss to Middle Tennessee in the conference tournament the Miners got a win over Western Illinois on Saturday. 

Matched up against the Leathernecks, UTEP jumped out to a nice 36-21 halftime lead. The Miners kept the pressure on in the second and came away with an 80-54 win. Leading scorer Keonte Kennedy put up 22 points with 15 boards, and Souley Boum added 20 points with 12 boards and 10 assists for a triple-double. 

UTEP is 10-4 ATS in their last 14 overall and 4-1 ATS in their last five at home. The Miners are 23-8-1 ATS in their last 32 Tuesday games. 

Meanwhile, the Thunderbirds are 5-2 ATS in their last seven overall and 4-9 ATS in the last 13 Tuesday games. The over is 18-8 in Southern Utah’s last 26 road games.

PICK: I’m going to take a stab on UTEP. The Miners looked great in the Western Illinois game, shooting 52.5 percent from the field with 47 rebounds and 20 team assists. UTEP has hit 70 or more points in three of their last four games and should post a good total here as well. 

As for Southern Utah, they’ve hit 79 or more points in three of their last four; we should have a fairly high-total matchup on our hands. I like this one to be a fun matchup overall, and I think UTEP can power out the win/cover.