Portland State vs Northern Arizona 1/12/23 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Northern Arizona Lumberjacks and the Portland State Vikings meet Thursday in college basketball action from Stott Center. Northern Arizona is 5-12 overall this year. The Lumberjacks lost to Montana State in their last game. As for Portland State, they’re 7-9 overall and fresh off a win over Idaho. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

Northern Arizona posted a 4-8 run over their first 12 games, beating only Benedictine Mesa, UCSB, Ottawa AZ and Pacific. The Lumberjacks are 1-4 since then with losses to Southern Utah, Idaho State, Weber State and Montana State. 

In the Montana State game back on Saturday, the Lumberjacks were drilled 40-24 in the first half. Northern Arizona got better with 30 points in the second half but still lost 69-54. Xavier Fuller led the team on 23 points.

Over on the Portland State side, they were 5-7 after 12 games, beating Evergreen State, Oregon State (twice), Portland Bible College and Air Force. The Vikings are 2-2 in their last four with wins over Cal Baptist and Idaho. 

Matched up against Idaho on Saturday, the Vikings trailed 30-27 going into the second half. Portland State surged on a 47-28 run from there and won it 74-58. Tops in scoring was Cameron Parker on 18 points with six rebounds. 

PICK: I’ll probably stay with Portland State. There’s not a lot to get excited about in this matchup, though. The Vikings have been putting up points pretty consistently over their last six games: they’ve hit 73 or more points in five of them. Portland State has also given up 72 or more points in five of those games as well, however. As for Northern Arizona, they’ve been at 60 points or fewer in three of their last four games and haven’t been all that impressive on offense lately. Portland State should be in line for the cover, but I’m probably staying away.