The Northern Colorado Bears and the New Mexico State Aggies meet Saturday in college basketball action from Pan American Center. Northern Colorado is currently 2-1 on the season. The Bears lost to Colorado State in their last outing. As for New Mexico State, they’re 2-2 so far following a blowout win over Western New Mexico on Tuesday. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Northern Colorado Bears
The Bears kicked off their season with a couple of pretty routine wins versus overmatched opponents. The opener was an 87-58 victory over Colorado College, as Northern Colorado shot 43.5 percent from the field with 46 rebounds. Next came an 81-60 blowout over Northern New Mexico. The Bears went a perfect 21-of-21 from the line in that victory.
Northern Colorado took their first loss of the year against Colorado State, and it wasn’t close. The Bears were down 41-28 by halftime and didn’t make up any ground in an eventual 83-64 loss. Dejour Reaves led the team on his 20 points with six rebounds, while Saint Thomas doubled up on 11 points and 15 boards.
New Mexico State Aggies
Over on the Aggies’ side, they’ve had a couple of tricky matchups in their two losses so far. First came an 86-46 result versus a great Kentucky team. New Mexico State was out-rebounded 43-33 in that one. After an 84-49 win over Sul Ross State, the Aggies took a 91-74 loss to UC Irvine thanks to a 41-29 rebounding deficit.
The Aggies were able to even up their record again with a 78-43 victory over Western New Mexico on Tuesday. New Mexico State hit a 43-21 advantage in the second half during that win. Leading the scoring was Jaden Harris with 24 points and seven rebounds. Jaylin Jackson-Posey added 12 points with five rebounds and six assists.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’ll lean toward New Mexico State in this one, but you could make a case either way. It should be a pretty good matchup. The Aggies have two big wins and two big losses so far this year, but they’ll have some confidence coming in after the Western New Mexico game. New Mexico State shot 44.1 percent from the field in that one with 13-of-26 (50 percent) from outside, 86.7 percent from the line (13-of-15) and 39 rebounds in a pretty well-rounded effort.
As for Northern Colorado, they’re reeling after a loss to a good Colorado State team. The Bears shot 36.9 percent from the field in that one and got out-rebounded 44-38. New Mexico State will be a more manageable opponent for Northern Colorado however, so I expect this one to be pretty close most of the way.
