Western Illinois vs North Dakota 12/21/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The North Dakota Fighting Hawks and the Western Illinois Leathernecks meet Wednesday in college basketball action from Western Hall. North Dakota enters this one at 6-8 overall. The Hawks lost to St. Thomas MN in their last game. As for Western Illinois, they’re 8-4 on the season and fresh off a win over North Dakota State. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

North Dakota went 3-3 over their first six games with wins over Incarnate Word, Elon and Wisconsin-Stout. The Hawks are 3-5 since then with losses to Iowa State, Portland, Idaho, Seattle and St. Thomas MN in that time. 

On Monday in the St. Thomas MN game, the Hawks had a 30-30 tie going into the second half. North Dakota faded on a 45-32 deficit from there in a 75-62 defeat. BJ Omot led the team with 14 points and four rebounds. 

Over on the Western Illinois side, they were 2-4 over their first six games with wins over only Illinois State and Rockford. The Leathernecks have since hit a win streak versus Southern IN, UTRGV, Iowa Wesleyan, Eastern IL, Eureka and North Dakota State. 

Matched up against North Dakota State on Monday, the Leathernecks were up by six by the break. Western Illinois posted a 44-31 run in the second half and cruised to the win 79-60. Trenton Massner doubled up on 24 points and 11 rebounds. 

PICK: I’m going to stay with Western Illinois. The Leathernecks have looked pretty good over this six-game win streak, scoring 79 or more points in every outing. Western Illinois has hit 71 or more points in every on e of their victories so far, and they’ll probably score that much in this one as well. As for North Dakota, they’ve got some decent performances this year depending on the matchup. The Hawks have been pretty sketchy overall, though. I don’t think they’ll keep a cover pace for this entire game.