Air Force vs Arkansas State 12/9/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Arkansas State Red Wolves and the Air Force Falcons meet Friday in college basketball action from Clune Arena. Arkansas State is 5-4 overall this year. The Red Wolves lost to Central Arkansas in their last game. As for Air Force, they’re 6-4 on the season and fresh off a win over South Dakota. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

Arkansas State alternated wins with losses over their first six games, losing to LSU, UC Davis and Prairie View in that time. After victories over Bethel (TN) and MS Valley State, the Red Wolves took a loss to Central Arkansas. 

In Tuesday’s matchup versus Central Arkansas, the Red Wolves were up 35-27 at the break. Arkansas State faded with a 45-32 deficit from there and lost 72-67. Caleb Fields posted 16 points in the loss, and Omar El-Skeikh doubled on 13 points and 10 boards. 

Over on the Air Force side, they lost three of their first four games to Bowling Green, Texas A&M-Commerce and Portland. The Falcons beat USC Upstate, MS Valley State, Montana and AR-Pine Bluff before another loss to Portland State. 

In the South Dakota matchup on Tuesday, Air Force posted another victory. The Falcons came out of halftime with a 39-21 lead and scored 40 more points in a 79-58 blowout. Jake Heidbreder led the team on 27 points with three boards. 

PICK: I’ll probably stick with Air Force. The Falcons got off to a rocky start this year but they’ve doing well over their last half-dozen outings. The scoring in that time has been a little sketchy—79 or more points in three games; 64 or fewer in three games. That said, the Falcons have held opponents to 58 or fewer points in five of those six. As for Arkansas State, they’ve been a mixed bag with offense themselves. If the Red Wolves are on point I think they’ll manage a decent pace but I still like Air Force better on the cover. Should be an interesting matchup.