Denver vs North Dakota 1/14/23 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The North Dakota Fighting Hawks and the Denver Pioneers meet Saturday in college basketball action from Hamilton Gymnasium. North Dakota is fresh off a Thursday matchup versus Omaha. In that one the Hawks lost by six. As for Denver, they played North Dakota State in their Thursday game. The Pioneers fell in blowout fashion. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

North Dakota managed a 5-7 run over their first 12 games with wins over Incarnate Word, Elon, Wisconsin-Stout, Utah Tech and CSUF. The Hawks went 1-4 over their next five with losses to St. Thomas MN, North Dakota State, South Dakota and South Dakota State. 

In the Thursday game versus Omaha, the Hawks were up 31-29 at the break. North Dakota was outscored 40-32 from there and lost 69-63. Treysen Eaglestaff was tops on 13 points, and Tsotne Tsartsidze doubled on 11 points and 12 boards. 

Over on the Denver side, they were 9-3 after 12 games this year with losses to Sacramento State (twice), and UCLA. The Pioneers hit a 1-5 run in the next six with losses to OMaha, Oregon State, Oral Roberts, St. Thomas MN and Western IL. 

Matched up against North Dakota State on Thursday, the Pioneers were outscored 43-34 in the first half. Denver fell further behind in the second on a 47-36 run in a 90-70 loss. Tuoko Tainamo led the team on 13 points with two rebounds.

PICK: I’ll probably stick with Denver. Both these teams are struggling right now and could use a win, though. During their last outing, the Pioneers were drilled by a North Dakota State team they should have beaten. Denver has lost four straight, but if there’s good news it’s that they’ve scored 70 or more points in three of those. As for North Dakota, they’ve lost five straight and haven’t eclipsed 63 points in any of those matchups. On paper this should be Denver’s cover if they play well.