Middle Tennessee vs Western Kentucky 12/31/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (8-4) vs. Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (8-5)
December 31, 2022 4:00 pm EDT
The Line: Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders -6.5 / Western Kentucky Hilltoppers +6.5; Over/Under: +141
(Get latest betting odds)
The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers and the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders meet in college basketball action from the Murphy Athletic Center on Saturday.
The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers will try to snap a three-game losing skid after an 81-78 loss to Rice last time out. Dayvion McKnight leads the Hilltoppers in scoring and assists with 16.6 PPG and 4.4 APG while Emmanuel Akot has 11.9 PPG with 3.3 APG and Luke Frampton has 10.7 PPG. Jairus Hamilton has 10.6 PPG to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for WKU up to this point in the season. Jamarion Sharp also has a team-high 6.7 RPG to lead the Hilltoppers in rebounding this season. As a team, Western Kentucky is averaging 75.9 PPG on 46.8% shooting from the field, 39.3% from three and 67.9% from the foul line this season.
The Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders will try to bounce back from an 82-67 road loss to Charlotte in their last game. Deandre Dishman leads the Blue Raiders in scoring and rebounding with 12.7 PPG along with 5.6 RPG and Eli Lawrence has 11.1 PPG with 3.5 RPG as the only other double-digit scorer for Middle Tennessee this season. Camryn Weston also has 2.8 APG to lead the Blue Raiders in assists this season. As a team, Middle Tennessee is averaging 71.6 PPG on 46.1% shooting from the field, 29.9% from behind the arc and 66.4% from the foul line this season.
Western Kentucky is 0-5 ATS in their last 5 games overall and 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games following an ATS loss while the under is 6-1 in their last 7 Saturday games. Middle Tennessee is 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games following a loss and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games following an ATS loss while the over is 7-0 in their last 7 games overall.
I get the case to be made for either side in this game, but I’m on Middle Tennessee here. I haven’t forgotten about how bad WKU looked against Louisville and the Hilltoppers haven’t been right since then. Middle Tennessee plays their best ball at home and even if it’s nothing more than a fade of WKU, I have to back Middle Tennessee and lay the points here.
