Western Illinois vs Youngstown State 11/26/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Youngstown State Penguins and the Western Illinois Leathernecks meet Saturday in college basketball action from Western Hall. Youngstown State is 4-2 on the year so far. The Penguins lost to Navy in their last game. As for Western Illinois, they’re sitting at 2-3 and coming off a loss to UTRGV. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

Youngstown State got off to a 2-0 start this year after wins 92-81 over Canisius and 90-72 versus TN-Martin. The Penguins lost to Notre Dame in game three, but then took wins over Grace Bible College and UC San Diego in the next pair. 

On Sunday versus Navy, Youngstown State took their second loss of the season. The Penguins were down 45-35 at the break and didn’t get any closer in an 80-67 loss. Malek Green led the way on 16 points, and Adrian Nelson doubled with 10 points and 12 boards. 

Over on the Western Illinois side, they also went 2-0 to start the year, beating Illinois State and Rockford. The Leathernecks took an 86-74 loss to DePaul in game three however, and followed that up with a 70-37 loss to UCF. 

The Leathernecks’ skid continued on Monday versus UTRGV. Western Illinois trailed 32-28 going into the second half and couldn’t quite recover in a 78-77 loss. Alec Rosner led the team on 23 points with five assists and three boards. 

PICK: I’m probably staying with Youngstown State. The Penguins took a tough loss to a good Navy team in their last game and didn’t play especially well. Youngstown State shot a tepid 37.9 percent from the field in that one, while the Midshipmen hit shots at a 59.2 percent clip. The good news is that the Penguins had a 38-30 rebounding advantage, and that physicality will help the team here. This should be Youngstown State’s cover to take if they play well.