UMass vs Albany 12/5/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Albany Great Danes and the UMass Minutemen meet in college basketball action from the Mullins Memorial Center on Monday night.

The Albany Great Danes will look to bounce back from back-to-back losses after an 88-62 loss to American last time out. Gerald Drumgoole Jr. leads the Great Danes in scoring with 13.2 PPG along with 4.4 RPG while Jonathan Beagle has 10.6 PPG with a team-high 7.7 RPG to lead Albany on the glass while making up the pair of double-digit scorers for Albany this season alongside Drumgoole Jr. Aaron Reddish has 9.9 PPG while Da’kquan Davis has 9.4 PPG with a team-high 2 APG this season. As a team, Albany is averaging 67.7 PPG on 42.4% shooting from the field, 35.4% from three and 66.3% from the foul line this season.

The UMass Minutemen will look to build on their five-game win streak after a 71-68 road win over Harvard last time out. Noah Fernandes leads UMass in scoring and assists with 11.4 PPG with 3.4 APG while Matt Cross has 10.2 PPG with 5.5 RPG as the only other double-digit scorer for UMass up to this point in the season. T.J Weeks Jr. has 9.7 PPG while Wildens Leveque has a team-high 5.6 RPG to lead the Minutemen in rebounding this season. As a team, UMass is averaging 70 PPG on 43.1% shooting from the field, 39.3% from behind the arc and 64.9% from the foul line this season.

Albany is 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games against a team with a winning record and 7-1 ATS in their last 8 Monday games while the over is 4-0 in their last 4 road games. UMass is 9-2 ATS in their last 11 games overall and 4-0 ATS in their last 4 home games following three or more consecutive home games while the under is 5-1 in their last 6 games overall.

I get the reasoning for backing a decent-sized underdog as UMass isn’t the kind of team you consider laying these kinds of numbers with. However, Albany’s been getting beat up by D-I opposition pretty much all year long and have lost by more than this line against lesser opponents this year. UMass has been in a lot of close games against tougher teams, but the most comparable opponent to Albany, UMass beat by 27 in their season opener against Central Connecticut State. Not sure we see a 27-point win here, but I think UMass covers.