Akron vs Maine 12/19/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Maine Black Bears and the Akron Zips meet in college basketball action from the Rhodes Arena on Monday night.

The Maine Black Bears will look to build on a 50-47 win over Merrimack last time out. Kellen Tynes leads the Black Bears in scoring with 15.1 PPG along with 4.7 RPG and 3.9 APG while Gedi Juozapaitis has 13.7 PPG with 3.1 RPG and Peter Filipovity has 11.6 PPG with a team-high 6.2 RPG to lead the Black Bears on the glass and to cap off the trio of double-digit scorers for Maine up to this point in the season. Jaden Clayton also has a team-high 4.4 APG to lead the Black Bears in the assist department as well this season. As a team, Maine is averaging 72.8 PPG on 48.6% shooting from the field, 32.2% from three and 71.8% from the foul line this season.

The Akron Zips will look to build on their current three-game win streak after a 66-54 win over Wright State in their last game. Xavier Castaneda leads the Zips in scoring and assists with 18.5 PPG along with 3.1 APG as well as 4.4 RPG this season and Enrique Freeman leads the Zips on the glass, averaging 12.2 PPG and 10.1 RPG as the only other double-digit scorer for Akron up to this point in the season. As a team, Akron is averaging 67.6 points per game on 41.3% shooting from the field, 31.8% from behind the three point line and 64.1% from the foul line this season.

Maine is 7-1-1 ATS in their last 9 games overall and 9-1 ATS in their last 10 road games against a team with a winning home record while the under is 5-1-1 in their last 7 road games. Akron is 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games overall and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 home games against a team with a losing road record while the under is 7-1 in their last 8 games overall.

I get the case to be made for either side in this game, but I’m backing the under in this game. Maine’s done a decent job at covering big numbers, but I just don’t know if they’ll be able to match what Akron’s going to bring for a full 40 minutes. I think this is a game that likely gets close to the total, but close isn’t enough. I like the under here.