The Northern Kentucky Norse and the Oakland Grizzlies meet Sunday in college basketball action from Athletics Center O’rena. Northern Kentucky sits at 15-11 on the year. The Norse lost to Detroit in their last outing. As for Oakland, they’re currently 18-9 so far and lost to Wright State in their most recent game. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Northern Kentucky stumbled to a 5-8 run this year and had to take nearly two weeks off in early January. Since then the Norse are playing much better. After wins over Milwaukee, Green Bay and Wright State, Northern Kentucky lost to Detroit in their last game.
In the matchup versus the Titans on Friday, the Norse scored just 20 points in the first half and 32 more after the break. The result ended up being a 60-52 defeat. Leading the scoring was Marques Warrick with 13 points and three rebounds.
Over on the Oakland side, they managed to start out the year at 16-5, then hit a losing streak to Northern Kentucky, Wright State and Youngstown. After wins over Robert Morris and Detroit, the Grizzlies took out Wright State in their last game.
In the Wright State game on Friday, the Grizzlies were up 35-34 by halftime. Oakland was outscored 39-44 in the second half during a 78-74 defeat. Lead scorer Jalen Moore finished on 20 points with one rebound and seven assists.
The Grizzlies are 6-1 ATS in the last seven Sunday games and 10-3 ATS in their last 13 at home. Oakland is 1-8 ATS in their last nine games overall.
Meanwhile, the Norse are 5-1 ATS in their last six road games and 9-2 ATS in their last 11 overall. The Norse are 19-8 AS in their last 27 Sunday games.
PICK: I’m going to try Northern Kentucky here. The Norse are coming off a bad game against Detroit, but they’d been playing well previously. Northern Kentucky had hit 68 or more points in six straight heading into that loss. As for Oakland, they lost 87-78 in overtime on the road the last time these teams met up. This one should be a pretty close game as well, but I like the Norse a little better on a potential cover.