St. Joseph’s vs UAB Prediction 3/19/25 College Basketball Picks Today

The UAB Blazers and the Saint Joseph’s Hawks meet Wednesday in NIT college basketball action from Hagan Arena. Here’s a Saint Joseph’s vs UAB prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Saint Joseph’s vs UAB pick.

UAB Blazers Betting Preview

The Blazers didn’t start out the year so great, but they finally hit their stride starting in early January. UAB opened on a 7-7 stretch through their first 14 games for a pretty middling opening stretch. Wins over Tulsa, Tulane, Florida Atlantic, South Florida and UTSA came next before a loss to Memphis, then wins over Tulane, Charlotte and North Texas. The Blazers would then fall to East Carolina before finishing the regular season on a 5-2 run with wins over South Florida, Rice, Temple, Wichita State and Florida Atlantic among losses to Memphis and Tulane. In the tournament the Blazers beat East Carolina and North Texas before a loss to Memphis, giving UAB a 22-12 record across 34 games so far this year.

In the Memphis matchup on Sunday, the Blazers kicked off the game with a 35-32 advantage. UAB was blitzed 52-37 the rest of the way however, resulting in an 84-72 loss in the end. Yaxel Lendeborg was the leading scorer with 19 points, 17 rebounds and four assists for a double-double. The only other player on the team to finish in double-figures was Efrem Johnson with 17 bench points, six rebounds, three steals and two assists in 28 minutes on the floor.

Saint Joseph’s Hawks Betting Preview

Over on the Saint Joseph’s side, they similarly started out on a choppy run but finished off the season fairly well. The Hawks went 10-4 over their first 14 with losses to Central Connecticut, Texas, Princeton and Charleston. Losses to Saint Louis, Duquesne, VCU, Dayton, Loyola Chicago and George Mason came next during a 5-6 stretch, but Saint Joseph’s would beat George Washington, Richmond, St. Bonaventure, Fordham and Rhode Island from there. After a regular-season-ending loss to La Salle, the Hawks took out La Salle and Dayton in the tournament before falling versus George Mason. That gives Saint Joseph’s a 22-12 run so far.

Matched up against George Mason in the Atlantic 10 Tournament semifinals, the Hawks were down 37-28 going into the second half. Saint Joseph’s didn’t end up getting any closer than that in an eventual loss 74-64. Xzayvier Brown was the team’s leading scorer with 26 points, six boards and two steals in the defeat. Anthony Finkley put up 14 points with four steals and three rebounds, while Dasear Haskins came off the bench for nine points and four rebounds in 22 minutes of work on the floor during the loss.

Saint Joseph’s vs UAB Prediction

I’m leaning toward UAB here. We should have a pretty solid matchup if both teams play to their capabilities, though. The Blazers had a great first half against a talented Memphis team in their conference championship loss, but faltered from there. UAB ended up shooting just 34.8 percent from the field with a 45-44 rebounding deficit and 15 turnovers for 24 Tigers points. The Blazers gave up 47.1 percent shooting on the other side and were outscored 46-22 in the paint. It was a solid bounce-back points-wise after finishing below 69 points in two of the previous three games, but a disappointment nonetheless.

As for Saint Joseph’s, they never really got going in their Atlantic 10 Tournament loss to George Mason. The Hawks shot just 33.3 percent from the field with 14 turnovers for 16 Patriots points, however they did well on the boards with a 39-32 edge. Saint Joseph’s had scored 73 or more points in eight straight games prior to that defeat, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see a high total in this one. I like UAB slightly better, but it’ll be a fun one to watch.