The Portland State Vikings and the Cal State Northridge Matadors meet Saturday in college basketball action from the Matadome. Portland State is 3-5 on the year so far. The Vikings lost to Cal Poly in their last game. As for Cal State Northridge, they’re 3-6 this year and coming off a loss to North Dakota State. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Portland State started out on a 3-3 run, beating Evergreen State, George Fox and Idaho State alongside losses to Oregon State, Portland and Iowa. Since then it’s been a pair of losses to Weber State and Cal Poly.
Matched up against Cal Poly last weekend, Portland State scored just 21 points in the first half on the way to a 61-58 loss. Leading scorer Michael Carter put up 20 points, and James Jean-Marie added 14 points with nine rebounds.
Over on the CSU Northridge side, they lost their first three games this year before bagging successive wins over Dixie State, St. Katherine and San Diego. The Matadors would then lose to Fresno State, Boise State and North Dakota State in the next trio.
Last Friday versus North Dakota State, the Matadors were outscored 32-25 in the first half and 36-29 from there in a 68-54 loss. Onyi Eyisi led the team with 19 points and seven boards, while Atin Wright had 17 points and five rebounds.
The Matadors are 5-1 ATS in their last six Saturday games and the over is 26-12 in their last 38 Saturday games. The under is 10-1 in CSUN’s last 11 overall.
Meanwhile, the Vikings are 4-1 ATS in their last five road games and 19-6-1 ATS in their last 26 Saturday games. The under is 6-2 in Portland State’s last eight Saturday games.
PICK: I’m probably going with Portland State, but staying away. There’s not much to like here. In any case, the Vikings haven’t played terribly over their last three outings—outside of the first half in the Weber State matchup—and they’ve been competitive despite a 1-2 run. Still, Portland State hasn’t managed more than 69 points in any of their last five.
As for Cal State Northridge, they’re not scoring well either. The Matadors have 56 or fewer points in each of their last four. A lot of things could happen in this one, so I’m not going near it. At the very least, it should be a competitive matchup.