The Air Force Falcons and the Portland State Vikings meet Saturday in college basketball action from Stott Center. Air Force is 5-3 on the year. The Falcons beat AR-Pine Bluff in their last game. As for Portland State, they’re 4-4 this season and coming off a win over Portland Bible College. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Air Force went 1-3 over their first four games this year, taking losses to Bowling Green, Texas A&M-Commerce and Portland. The Falcons would then hit a four-game win streak over USC Upstate, MS Valley State, Montana and AR-Pine Bluff.
On Wednesday versus AR-Pine Bluff, the Falcons went into halftime up 41-23. Air Force kept it up with 40 more points from there in an 81-53 blowout win. Leading scorer Ethan Taylor posted 16 points with five rebounds and five assists.
Over on the Portland State side, they hit a 2-2 run over their first four games. The wins in that time were over Evergreen State and Oregon State. Portland then posted losses to Gonzaga and West Virginia before a win over Oregon State.
In Wednesday’s matchup versus Portland Bible College, the Vikings didn’t have any trouble. Portland State was up 63-9 by halftime and cruised to a 114-31 win. Bobby Harvey led the way on 18 points and Jorell Saterfield added 17 points.
PICK: I’m probably going to stick with Air Force. The Falcons have found a nice groove over this four-game win streak. They’ve held opponents to 56 points or below in all four outings. That said, Air Force has been at 70 points or above in just three of their eight games so far this year. The Falcons will need to press the offense with some intensity in order to keep the pace on Portland State. Should be a fun and competitive matchup overall; I like Air Force to keep rolling cover-wise.