UTEP vs Western Illinois 3/19/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Western Illinois Leathernecks and the UTEP Miners meet in a TBC tournament matchup in college basketball action from the Don Haskins Center on Saturday afternoon.

The Western Illinois Leathernecks come into this game on behalf of the Summit League, finishing the year at 16-15 overall, including 7-11 in conference play to finish with the #6 seed in the conference tournament. Western Illinois were bounced from the tournament in their first game after a loss to Oral Roberts. Trenton Massner leads the Leathernecks in scoring, rebouding and assists with 16.8 PPG, 6.3 RPG and 4 APG while Will Carius has 14.3 PPG and Luka Barisic has 14.2 PPG with 6 RPG this season. Colton Sandage has 13.4 PPG with 3.9 RPG and 2.6 APG to make up the group of double-digit scorers for WIU this season while Tamell Pearson has 9.9 PPG and 5.9 RPG this season. As a team, Western Illinois is averaging 79 PPG on 43.8% shooting from the field, 33.6% from three and 71.1% from the foul line while allowing 77 PPG on 46.2% shooting from the field and 37.9% from three this season.

The UTEP Miners come into the TBC on behalf of C-USA, finishing the year at 19-13 including 11-7 in conference play to finish with the #4 seed in the West division. UTEP took down Old Dominion before falling to Middle Tennessee in the quarterfinals. Souley Boum has 19.6 PPG with 2.6 APG so far this season while Keonte Kennedy has 13.6 PPG and a team-high 5.5 RPG to lead the Miners on the glass. Jamal Bieniemy has 14.7 PPG with a team-high 4 APG to lead the Miners in the assist department and to round out the trio of double-digit scorers for UTEP up to this point in the season. As a team, UTEP is averaging 69 PPG on 43% shooting from the field, 35.5% from three and 76.3% from the foul line while allowing 66.6 PPG on 44.5% shooting from the field and 34.6% from three this season.

Western Illinois is 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games as an underdog and 0-5 ATS in their last 5 games following a loss. UTEP is 5-2 ATS in their last 7 home games and 9-4 ATS in their last 13 games overall while the over is 5-1 in their last 6 games as a favorite.

I get the case to be made either way here, but truth be told, I feel better backing the under here. Neither team is a world-beater offensively and this just feels like a game where the offense can end up being so bad that the defense looks better than it is and I think that this is one that stays under the number.