North Dakota vs South Dakota 1/5/23 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The South Dakota Coyotes and the North Dakota Fighting Hawks meet Thursday in college basketball action from the Betty. South Dakota enters this one at 7-8 overall. The Coyotes beat Western Illinois in their last game. As for North Dakota, they’re currently 6-9 after a loss to North Dakota State. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

South Dakota went 5-5 over their first 10 games, losing to Wisconsin, Mississippi State, Sam Houston, Coastal Carolina and Air Force in that time. The Coyotes are 2-3 since then with losses to UC Irvine, Coastal Carolina again and UMKC. 

In their Saturday matchup versus Western Illinois, the Coyotes took a 36-25 edge into the second half. South Dakota posted another 44 points from there and won 80-63. Kruz Perrott-Hunt led the team on 30 points with seven rebounds. 

Over on the North Dakota side, they went 5-5 in their first 10 as well, losing to Creighton, Pacific, Montana State, Iowa State and Portland. The Fighting Hawks are just 1-4 since then with a lone victory over North Central MN. 

In Friday’s game versus North Dakota State, North Dakota was down by 16 points after the first half. The Hawks didn’t get any closer on a 35-29 second-half run and fell 71-49. A’Jahni Levias posted 10 points with three rebounds to lead the team. 

PICK: I’m going to stay with South Dakota. The Coyotes are just 2-4 in their last six games but overall they’ve been scoring pretty well in comparable matchups. South Dakota has hit 71 or more points in four of their last five games but they’re just 2-3 in that time. As for North Dakota, they’re struggling right now coming off a rough loss to North Dakota State. The Hawks have scored just 111 combined points over their last two games, and though I think they’ll post a decent number here I still don’t see North Dakota covering.