Niagara vs Eastern Michigan 12/11/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Eastern Michigan Eagles and the Niagara Purple Eagles meet in college basketball action from the Gallagher Center on Sunday afternoon.

The Eastern Michigan Eagles will look to rebound from back-to-back losses after an 87-81 loss to Illinois State in their last game. Emoni Bates leads the Eagles in scoring and rebounding with 20.1 PPG along with a team-high 5.9 RPG while Noah Farrakhan has 13.1 PPG with 4.1 RPG and 2.8 APG. Tyson Acuff has 13 PPG with 3.5 RPG and 2.8 APG to finish off the trio of double-digit scorers for Eastern Michigan up to this point in the season. As a team, Eastern Michigan is averaging 76 PPG on 45.2% shooting from the field, 34.2% from three and 73.9% from the foul line this season.

The Niagara Purple Eagles will try to build on a 64-60 win over Quinnipiac last time out. Noah Thomasson leads the Purple Eagles in scoring and assists with 16.6 PPG and 3.6 APG while Aaron Gray has 10.4 PPG with a team-high 6.3 RPG to lead the Purple Eagles on the glass as the only other double-digit scorer for Niagara up to this point in the season. As a team, Niagara is averaging 64.9 PPG on 43.2% shooting from the field, 36.1% from three and 70.7% from the foul line this season.

Eastern Michigan is 2-8 ATS in their last 10 games following an ATS loss and 0-4 ATS in their last 4 Sunday games while the over is 5-1 in their last 6 road games. Niagara is 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games against at eam with a winning record while the over is 7-1-1 in their last 9 games following an ATS win.

I get the case to be made for either side in this game, but I’m actually leaning towards the under here. Eastern Michigan’s defense hasn’t been good in a lot of spots this season, but the 326^th ranked offense of Niagara is unlikely to take advantage. I see this game hanging around the 130s, but asking to go into the 140s is a bit much. Give me the under here.