Southern Utah vs North Alabama Pick – Basketball Predictions & Odds 3/18/23
North Alabama Lions (18-14) vs. Southern Utah Thunderbirds (21-12)
March 18, 2023 1:00 pm EDT
The Line: Southern Utah Thunderbirds -8 / North Alabama Lions +8 ; Over/Under: 166
(Get latest betting odds)
The North Alabama Lions and the Southern Utah Thunderbirds meet Saturday in CBI Tournament college basketball action from Ocean Center. The Lions are currently 18-14 overall this year. North Alabama lost to Eastern Kentucky in conference tournament activity during their last appearance. As for Southern Utah, they’re 22-12 on the season following a loss to Grand Canyon in the WAC Tournament. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
North Alabama Lions
North Alabama held a 13-11 record at the 24-game mark this year. The Lions would finish off the regular season on a 5-2 run, beating Florida Gulf Coast, Austin Peay, Lipscomb, Bellarmine and Eastern Kentucky before losses to Kennesaw State and Jacksonville State.
In their Atlantic Sun Tournament matchup versus Eastern Kentucky back on February 28, the Lions were drilled 37-19 in the first half alone. North Alabama didn’t end up getting any closer and lost 73-48. Daniel Ortiz led the team on his 22 points and five rebounds.
Southern Utah Thunderbirds
Over on the Southern Utah side, they got through the regular season at 20-11 overall. The Thunderbirds finished things off with a 1-2 run but were able to dispatch Utah Tech 76-75 and Utah Valley 89-88 in the first two outings of the WAC Tournament.
In the conference tourney matchup versus Grand Canyon last Saturday, the Thunderbirds went into the break down 44-31. Southern Utah was outscored 40-35 from there and lost 84-66. Tevian Jones was the team’s leading scorer on 17 points and three rebounds.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’ll probably stick with Southern Utah in this one. Also probably not touching it, though. The Thunderbirds weren’t exactly dominant through the WAC Tournament; their two wins were each by one point and they were beaten handily by Grand Canyon. That said, Southern Utah has still been scoring well with 66 or more points in five straight games. North Alabama has some pretty good scoring outings in the books lately themselves, but they’ve got three straight losses by nine or more points each on their hands as well. Southern Utah will need to play to their capabilities but I think they can pull it off.
