The UAB Blazers and the San Francisco Dons meet Friday in college basketball action from Orleans Arena. UAB is 5-1 so far this year. The Blazers are coming off a Thursday win over New Mexico. As for San Francisco, they’re undefeated so far this season. The Dons are fresh off a victory over Towson in their Thursday game. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
UAB didn’t have any issues over their first three games this year, taking out UNC Asheville, Morehead State and Rhodes. The Blazers lost their next game to South Carolina 66-63 but bounced back with a win over Alabama A&M.
On Thursday against New Mexico, UAB posted a 42-37 edge in the first half. The Blazers would keep it going with 44 second-half points in an 86-73 win. Jordan Walker led the team on 26 points with six assists and three rebounds.
Over on the San Francisco side, they had a couple of close calls over their first six outings, but still came away unscathed. The Dons took out LIU, Prairie View, Davidson, Samford, Nevada and Morgan State in that stretch.
In Thursday’s game, San Francisco notched another victory over Towson. The Dons were up 39-30 at the break and hung on for a 71-61 result. Jamaree Bouyea led the way on 20 points with nine rebounds and five assists.
PICK: I’m going to try UAB in this one. The Blazers had a nice outing against New Mexico on Thursday, shooting 49.2 percent from the floor with 13-of-15 from the line. The 19 turnovers could be cleaned up, but UAB held the rebounding edge 41-27 so the point was moot.
As for San Francisco, they shot 49 percent from the field versus Towson on Thursday, burying 11 3-pointers in the process. The Dons had a slight rebounding deficit 32-31 but played a great game overall. This should be a pretty entertaining matchup on Friday.