The Oral Roberts Golden Eagles and UT Arlington Mavericks meet Monday in college basketball action at the College Park Center. Let’s preview this game and give out a pick and prediction.

Oral Roberts Golden Eagles Betting Preview

The Oral Roberts Golden Eagles are coming off a 30-win season and a NCAA Tournament appearance. The 30 victories were the most in school history. Issac McBride returns after averaging 11.8 points and 2.7 rebounds, while Kareem Thompson averaged 8.5 points and 3 assists. Trey Phipps played in 367 minutes last season, and DeShang Weaver averaged 2.1 rebounds. Oral Roberts isn’t the same team from last year obviously as it lost Max Abmas, Connor Vanover and others, but there’s reasonably enough returning production to still be a factor in the Summit. McBride is an experienced guard who has put together back to back strong seasons, and now it’s his squad. Oral Roberts looks to make two straight trips to the Big Dance since joining the Summit in 2014-15. 

UT Arlington Mavericks Betting Preview

The UT Arlington Mavericks has won 11 games in back to back seasons and hopes to take that next step. UT Arlington has won at least 10 games in each of the last 29 seasons. Shemar Wilson returns after averaging 10.9 points and 7.8 rebounds, while Aaron Cash averaged 7.7 points and 0.5 assists. Brandyn Talbot played in 473 minutes last season, and he’s the only other returning player who logged minutes. UT Arlington returns only 3 players from last year, so it’s fair to expect extreme growing pains at least early on. Wilson made a big jump in his second season, and he’s going to be the leader of this squad in his third year. Still, there are a lot of new faces on this UT Arlington roster.

Randy’s Pick

The UT Arlington Mavericks return only three players from last season, so it’s sure going to take some time to truly get going. The Oral Roberts Golden Eagles made the big dance last year and return a handful of the core that made it possible. We’re getting a free bucket with a team that won 30 games last year against a team with a ton of new faces. I’ll grab the free bucket with Oral Roberts.