UMass-Lowell vs Maine Pick – Basketball Predictions & Odds 3/4/23

The Maine Black Bears and UMass Lowell River Hawks meet Saturday in the college basketball America East Tournament at the Costello Athletic Center. Let’s preview this game and give out a pick and prediction.

The Maine Black Bears are averaging 69 points on 46 percent shooting and allowing 69.2 points on 45.9 percent shooting. Gedi Juozapaitis is averaging 15.3 points and 1.9 assists, while Kellen Tynes is averaging 14.4 points and 4.6 rebounds. Peter Filipovity is grabbing 5.7 rebounds and Kristians Feierbergs is dishing 0.8 assists. The Maine Black Bears are shooting 33.7 percent from beyond the arc and 73.3 percent from the free throw line. The Maine Black Bears are allowing 34 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 27.3 rebounds per game.

The UMass Lowell River Hawks are averaging 78.5 points on 48.3 percent shooting and allowing 66.2 points on 40.6 percent shooting. Everette Hammond is averaging 13.7 points and 4.7 rebounds, while Abdoul Karim Coulibaly is averaging 11.8 points and 8 rebounds. Ayinde Hikim is the third double-digit scorer and Allin Blunt is grabbing 3.3 rebounds. The UMass Lowell River Hawks are shooting 37.8 percent from beyond the arc and 73.2 percent from the free throw line. The UMass Lowell River Hawks are allowing 34 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 36 rebounds per game.

The River Hawks are 7-0 ATS in their last 7 home games and 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games overall. The over is 7-3 in Black Bears last 10 road games. The over is 4-1 in River Hawks last 5 overall.

The UMass-Lowell River Hawks are easily the better team here, and a blowout win wouldn’t shock anybody. However, the Maine Black Bears played the River Hawks tight in two meetings and even won one of those games. Also, Maine loses as underdogs by an average of just 5.1 points. I’ll take a shot with the underdog.