Denver vs Western Illinois Pick – Basketball Predictions & Odds 2/2/23

The Western Illinois Leathernecks and the Denver Pioneers meet Thursday in college basketball action from Hamilton Gymnasium. Western Illinois is sitting at 14-8 overall this year. The Leathernecks beat South Dakota State in their last game. As for Denver, they’re 12-12 on the season after a Saturday loss to UMKC. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

Western Illinois Leathernecks 

Western Illinois lost to DePaul, UCF, Youngstown State, UTRGV, South Dakota State, South Dakota and Omaha in their first 15 games. The Leathernecks are 6-1 in the last seven games since then with a lone loss to Oral Roberts. 

Back on Saturday versus South Dakota State, the Leathernecks came back from a 39-22 halftime deficit to force overtime. Western Illinois scored 12 from there and won 81-73. Trenton Massner led the team on 30 points with nine rebounds and eight assists. 

Denver Pioneers 

Over on the Denver side, they lost to Sac State (twice), UCLA, Omaha, Oregon State, UMKC and Oral Roberts in their first 16 games. The Pioneers are 2-6 in their last eight with wins over only North Dakota and South Dakota. 

In the UMKC matchup on Saturday, the Pioneers took a 30-27 edge into the locker room. Denver was outscored 43-30 from there and lost 70-60. Tops in scoring was Tommy Bruner with 19 points and four rebounds. 

ANDREW’S FREE PICK 

I’m going to stick with Western Illinois in this one. Probably not touching it, though. The Leathernecks have looked pretty good during this 6-1 run, scoring 75 or more points in four of those wins. The last time these teams met up back on January 7 at Western Hall, the Leathernecks took a 91-74 win thanks to 54 second-half points. I like this one to be fairly close most of the way, with Western Illinois powering out another cover/win.