The Idaho Vandals and the Cal State Northridge Matadors meet Monday in college basketball action from the Matadome. Idaho is 5-6 so far this year. The Vandals beat Northwest Indian in their last game. As for CSU Northridge, they’re 2-7 following a loss to Northern Colorado last weekend. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Idaho has wins over Walla Walla, Pacific, Northern IL, North Dakota and Northwest Indian so far this year. The losses have come to Denver, Omaha, CSUB, Utah Tech, Cal Poly and UC Riverside otherwise.
In the Northwest Indian matchup back on Friday, Idaho got off to a 67-22 edge by halftime. The Vandals scored 58 more points in the second half and cruised to the 125-51 blowout. Don Ford led the team on 31 points and seven rebounds.
Over on the Cal State Northridge side, they’ve got wins over La Sierra and Whittier. Outside of that they’ve lost to Utah Tech, Cal Baptist, Tennessee State, Central Michigan, Boise State, Fresno State and Northern Colorado.
In the Northern Colorado game on December 10, the Matadors trailed by four points at halftime. Cal State Northridge couldn’t make up the gap and lost 70-63. Atin Wright was the leading scorer on 19 points and four rebounds.
PICK: I’ll probably stay with Idaho. The Vandals started out on a sketchy run this year, going just 1-5 over their first half-dozen outings. Idaho has since posted a 4-1 run with 74 or more points scored in all five games. Scoring really hasn’t been an issue for the Vandals; they’ve hit 71 points or more in all but two appearances. As for CSU Northridge, they’ve shown a few flashes this year but the team has struggled mightily in the record column. The Matadors have scored 66 or fewer points in four of their last five games and I don’t think they’ll keep pace here.