The Grand Canyon Antelopes and the Sam Houston State Bearkats meet Thursday in college basketball action from Johnson Coliseum. Grand Canyon is 10-4 overall so far. The Antelopes beat California Baptist in their last game. As for Sam Houston, they’re 11-3 after a win over New Mexico State this past Saturday. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Grand Canyon went 7-3 over their first 10 games, losing to only Nevada, Wichita State and LMU. The Antelopes have gone 3-1 since then, losing to North Texas before wins versus Pepperdine, Idaho State and Cal Baptist.
In the Cal Baptist matchup last Thursday, the Antelopes took a 31-27 advantage into the second half. Grand Canyon hit a 42-32 run from there and won 73-59. Rayshon Harrison was the top scorer on 16 points with seven rebounds.
Over on the Sam Houston side, they were 8-2 after 10 games this year, falling versus Nevada and Oklahoma State. The Bearkats managed wins over Texas State and ABU before a loss to Utah Valley and another win over New Mexico State.
On Saturday versus New Mexico State, the Bearkats were up 38-25 going into the second half. Sam Houston kept the pace from there on 37 points in a 75-62 win. Qua Grant was the top scorer with 17 points and five boards.
PICK: I’ll probably take a stab on Sam Houston State here. You could make a case either way, though; it’ll be a good matchup. In any case, Sam Houston State bounced back well from a bad showing versus Utah Valley with a nice win over New Mexico State in their last outing. The Bearkats will really need to step on the offensive gas pedal here: in each of their three losses, Sam Houston has scored 64 or fewer points. As for Grand Canyon, they’re sitting on a nice three-game win streak with 68 or more points scored in each. I like this one to be a highly competitive game with a late cover by the Bearkats. Should be a fun one to watch.