The Northern Colorado Bears and the Portland State Vikings meet Saturday in college basketball action from Stott Center. Northern Colorado is coming off a Thursday matchup versus Sacramento State. In that one the Bears lost by eight points. As for Portland State, they played Northern Arizona in their Thursday matchup. The Vikings ended up eking out a one-point victory. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Northern Colorado posted a 5-7 run through 12 games this year with wins over Texas A&M-Commerce, North Dakota State, Jacksonville State, Colorado State and CSUN. The Bears lost their next four to Weber State, Idaho State, Montana State and Montana.
On Thursday versus Sacramento State, the Bears were down 33-29 by halftime. Northern Colorado didn’t get any closer in an eventual 72-64 defeat. Dalton Knecht led the team with 16 points, four rebounds and four assists.
Over on the Portland State side, they were 5-7 through 12 as well with wins over Evergreen State, Oregon State (twice), Portland Bible College and Air Force. The Vikings went 2-2 in their next four with wins over Cal Baptist and Idaho.
Matched up against Northern Arizona on Thursday, the Vikings held a 10-point edge by the second half. Portland State was outscored 48-39 from there but still won 75-74. Cameron Parker led the team on 19 points with 11 assists.
PICK: I’ll probably stay with Portland State. The Vikings are scoring pretty well these days; they’ve hit 73 or more points in six of their last seven outings but have gone just 3-4 in that stretch. Northern Colorado has fared even worse with seven straight losses. That said, the Bears have scored 64 or more points in six of those outings. It wouldn’t be surprising to see a high total here; ultimately I still like the Vikings a little better cover/win-wise, though.