The Jacksonville State Gamecocks and the Liberty Flames meet Saturday in college basketball action from Liberty Arena. Jacksonville State is fresh off a Thursday matchup versus Kennesaw State. In that one the Gamecocks took a six-point win. As for Liberty, they played North Alabama in their Thursday game. The Flames ended up winning by 19 points. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Jacksonville State was a bit sketchy out of the gate this year, hitting a 5-6 stretch through their first 11 games. The Gamecocks then hit a winning streak, beating Little Rock, Carver, North Alabama, Lipscomb, Eastern Kentucky, Central Arkansas, FGCU and Bellarmine in the next eight.
Matched up against Kennesaw State on Thursday, Jacksonville State went into the break with a 36-31 advantage. The Gamecocks were outscored 34-33 from there but held on for the 70-64 win. Darian Adams was tops on 22 points, and Brandon Huffman doubled with 11 points and 10 boards.
Over on the Liberty side, they lost three of their first four games this year. The Flames have lost consecutive games just once since then, though. Liberty had a win streak over Boyce, Stetson, North Florida, FGCU and Jacksonville prior to their matchup versus North Alabama.
On Thursday versus the Lions, Liberty posted a 35-24 advantage in the first half and a 37-29 run in the second for a 72-53 win. Kyle Rode led the team on 17 points and eight rebounds, and Darius McGhee posted 18 points and six boards.
The Flames are 4-1 ATS in their last five at home and 1-4 ATS in their last five Saturday games. The over is 7-2 in Liberty’s last nine overall.
Meanwhile, the Gamecocks are 5-1 ATS in their last six road games and 20-8 ATS in their last 28 overall. Jacksonville State is 4-0 ATS in the last four Saturday games.
PICK: I’m going to try Jacksonville State here. The Gamecocks are on a nice nine-game win streak right now and scoring well. They’ve hit 70 or more points in seven of those outings (65 in the other pair). Liberty will prove to be a stout opponent, though. The Flames have scored 71 or more points in each of their last 11 games, going 9-2 in that stretch. I like this one to be a high-scoring shootout, and I think the Gamecocks can stick with the pace well enough to cover. Should be a fun game to watch.