Northern Arizona vs Montana 1/5/23 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Montana Grizzlies and the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks meet Thursday in college basketball action from Findlay Toyota Center. Montana is 7-7 overall this year. The Grizzlies beat Idaho in their last game. As for Northern Arizona, they’re 4-11 after a loss to Weber State. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

Montana was 5-5 after 10 games this  year, losing to Duquesne, Xavier, Troy, Air Force and Southern Miss. The Grizzlies have gone 2-2 since then with losses to Gonzaga and Eastern Washington mixed with wins over Prairie View and Idaho. 

In the Idaho game on Saturday, the Grizzlies were up 33-20 at the break. Montana posted another 34 points from there and won it 67-56. Brandon Whitney led the way on 20 options with five rebounds. 

Over on the Northern Arizona side, they were 3-7 after 10 games with wins over Benedictine Mesa, UCSB and Ottawa AZ. The Lumberjacks are 1-4 since then, falling to Utah Valley, Southern Utah, Idaho State and Weber State. 

On Saturday versus Weber State, Northern Arizona trailed 37-30 going into halftime. The Lumberjacks were outscored 39-30 from there and lost 76-60. Tops in scoring was Jalen Cone with 16 points and six boards. 

PICK: I’m going to stay with Montana. The Grizzlies are on a 4-2 run over their last six games and playing relatively well. Montana has scored 67 or more points in all six of those outings and shouldn’t have too much trouble putting up a decent number here. As for Northern Arizona, they’ve got just 113 combined points over the last two games, however they’ve been able to score pretty well in comparable matchups here and there this season. That said, I still like Montana better on a potential cover.