The North Dakota Fighting Hawks and the Denver Pioneers meet Friday in Summit League Tournament college basketball action from Denny Sanford Premier Center. North Dakota comes into this matchup at 12-19 overall. The Hawks beat St. Thomas MN in their last game. As for Denver, they’re 15-16 on the year after a win over Omaha on Saturday. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
North Dakota Fighting Hawks
North Dakota managed a 7-16 run over their first 23 outings of the year. The Hawks finished off the season on a 5-3 run with wins over South Dakota, Denver, Omaha, Kansas City and St. Thomas MN alongside losses to South Dakota State, Oral Roberts and Western Illinois.
On Saturday versus St. Thomas MN, the Hawks were in the locker room with a 40-38 lead. North Dakota put up a 42-36 run from there and took the win 82-74. Leading the way was Tsotne Tsartsidze with 20 points and seven rebounds.
Denver Pioneers
Over on the Denver side, they managed a .500 run in their first 24 games with a 12-12 record. The Pioneers are 3-4 in their last seven, taking losses to St. Thomas MN, North Dakota, North Dakota State and South Dakota State in that time.
Back on Saturday in the Omaha matchup, Denver jumped out to a 32-18 halftime lead. The Pioneers cruised on 40 second-half points and ended up winning 72-61. Tevin Smith put up 18 points and Touch Tainamo doubled on 11 points with 11 rebounds.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’ll probably stick with North Dakota in this one. You could make a case either way, though; it should be a good matchup. The last time these teams met up back on February 9 at the Betty, North Dakota secured an 86-63 blowout win. Denver won the first meeting back on January 14 at Hamilton Gymnasium however, taking the 78-71 result. Both teams have been scoring pretty well lately and this should be a high-total affair as well. I like North Dakota a little better but it’s something of a toss-up.