The Arkansas Pine Bluff Golden Lions and Oklahoma Sooners face off on Thursday in a college basketball showdown at McCasland Stadium. Let’s look at the betting matchup and give a free Oklahoma vs Arkansas Pine Bluff prediction. 

Arkansas Pine Bluff’s Defense is an Issue

Against D1 competition so far this season Arkansas Pine Bluff has had some major issues with the defense. Two games ago against Ball State the offense scored 74 points, but the defense gave up 92 points and that led to the defeat. They also lost to Incarnate Word and Minnesota during a three-game losing streak. In the last game against Arkansas Baptist, they were able to bounce back and they ended up winning 85-60. On the season Arkansas Pine Bluff is averaging 87.4 points while their defense is giving up 82.98 points per game. The offense is ranked 18th while the defense is ranked 348th. Kylen Milton is averaging 20.9 points while shooting 60.7 percent from the field and 44.8 percent from behind the three-point line. 

Oklahoma Not Getting Enough Respect

Oklahoma isn’t getting enough respect for what they have done this season. The Sooners beat Central Michigan, MS Valley State, Texas State, and UTRGV in their first four games. Over the last two games, Oklahoma has knocked off the Iowa Hawkeyes and the USC Trojans. Against USC they had to outscore the Trojans 36-31, and that was enough for the win. Javian McCollum put up 18 points, three assists, and two rebounds. Oklahoma on the season is averaging 84.2 points while their defense is giving up 59.8 points per game. The offense gets the attention, but this is a very strong defensive team. In this game, the defense is going to need to step up in a big way. 

Arkansas Pine Bluff vs Oklahoma Betting Prediction

This Arkansas Pine Bluff team is awful and they are going to really struggle in this game. Arkansas Pine Bluff’s defense is giving up almost 83 points per game and in this game they are going to give up close to 100 points. The Golden Lions aren’t going to find enough to keep up and that will be the difference here as Oklahoma is going to get the job done. Back Oklahoma against the spread here.