Eastern Kentucky vs Liberty 2/5/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds
Liberty Flames (16-7) vs. Eastern Kentucky Colonels (11-12)
February 5, 2022 7:00 pm EDT
The Line: Eastern Kentucky Colonels +6.5 ; Over/Under: -143.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Liberty Flames and the Eastern Kentucky Colonels meet Saturday in college basketball action from EKU Alumni Coliseum. Liberty is 16-7 on the year. The Flames managed a Thursday win over Bellarmine. As for Eastern Kentucky, they played Kennesaw State in their Thursday matchup. In that one, the Colonels managed a triple-overtime win. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Liberty posted a sketchy 8-6 run over their first 14 games this year, but it’s been much better since. The Flames would then hit a six-game win streak before a loss to Jacksonville State. It’s been wins over Kennesaw State and Bellarmine in the last pair.
In the Bellarmine matchup on Thursday, the Flames went into halftime tied at 25. Liberty owned the second half on a 41-28 run and notched the win 66-53. Shiloh Robinson led the way on 17 points with 12 rebounds for a double-double.
Over on the Eastern Kentucky side, they were sitting at 8-10 and coming off a four-game losing streak back in mid-January. The Colonels would then take out Lipscomb and North Florida before losses to Florida Gulf Coast and Stetson.
On Thursday versus Kennesaw State, the Colonels were locked in a tense battle. Eastern Kentucky needed three overtimes to get there, but emerged with an 82-81 win all the same. Michael Moreno led the way on 21 points and nine boards.
The Colonels are 1-4 ATS in their last five at home and 0-4 ATS in their last four Saturday games. Eastern Kentucky is 0-4 ATS in their last four Saturday games.
Meanwhile, the Flames are 4-1 ATS in their last five road games and 1-5 ATS in their last six Saturday games. Liberty is 4-1 ATS in their last five overall.
PICK: I’m going to try Liberty here. The Flames haven’t exactly lit up the scoreboard in their last pair with 131 combined points, but they’ve held opponents to just 103 points in that same span. Liberty is certainly capable of scoring well when the matchup is right, however; they had a run of 11 straight games with 71 or more points from mid-December to late January.
As for Eastern Kentucky, they’re coming off a gutsy 3OT win and have scored pretty well over their last three games. I like this one to be high-scoring and competitive but I think Liberty has the inside track on a cover.
