UTRGV vs Grand Canyon 1/6/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Grand Canyon Antelopes will travel to UTRGV Fieldhouse to take on the UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros this Thursday night in College Basketball action.

The Grand Canyon Antelopes won their 3^rd straight game and improved to 11-2 on the season after defeating the Chicago State Cougars, 80-63, this past Thursday. Grand Canyon led by a 42-34 margin at halftime and was able to pull away in the 2^nd half after taking a 53-38 lead with 14:58 left in regulation. Grand Canyon shot 46.0% from the field & 34.6% from beyond the arc while allowing Chicago State to shoot 44.2% from the field & 15.4% from beyond the arc. Leading the way for the Antelopes was Jovan Blacksher Jr. who had 24 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, & 2 steals.

On the season, Grand Canyon is averaging 72.8 ppg on 42.6% shooting from the field. The Antelopes are averaging 8.7 three-pointers per game on 35.5% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, Grand Canyon has been led by Jovan Blacksher Jr. (17.1 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 3.9 apg, 2.2 spg), Holland Woods (13.3 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.3 spg), Gabe McGlothan (10.2 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 1.0 apg), & Sean Miller-Moore (6.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg).

Defensively, Grand Canyon is holding their opponents to an average of 58.2 ppg on 37.5% shooting from the field. The Antelopes have a rebound margin of 10.4 and a turnover margin of 1.8.

The UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros dropped to 5-8 on the season after being defeated by the Sam Houston Bearkats, 86-78, this past Monday night. UT Rio Grande Valley trailed by a 37-31 margin at halftime and could not fight back after Sam Houston took a 56-34 lead with 14:35 left in regulation. UT Rio Grande Valley shot 45.0% from the field & 29.2% from beyond the arc while allowing Sam Houston to shoot 45.5% from the field & 37.8% from beyond the arc. Leading the way for the Vaqueros was Justin Johnson who had 22 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, & 2 steals.

On the season, UT Rio Grande Valley is averaging 72.7 ppg on 45.0% shooting from the field. The Vaqueros are averaging 6.5 three-pointers per game on 33.2% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, UT Rio Grande Valley has been led by Justin Johnson (17.4 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 2.6 apg), Marek Nelson (11.6 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 2.4 apg, 2.1 spg), Ricky Nelson (10.4 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 4.5 apg), & Mike Adewunmi (8.5 ppg, 6.2 rpg).

Defensively, UT Rio Grande Valley is allowing their opponents to an average of 77.9 ppg on 43.7% shooting from the field. The Vaqueros have a rebound margin of -4.5 and a turnover margin of -1.8.

The Antelopes are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games following a ATS loss, however, are just 0-5-1 ATS in their last 6 Thursday games. The Vaqueros are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600 and just 2-9 ATS in their last 11 games following a straight up loss.

Grand Canyon has been led by their defense which comes into this game ranked 18^th in scoring defense & 16^th in defensive FG%, and have been average offensively, ranking 163^rd in scoring offense. UT Rio Grande Valley has been led by their offense which ranks t-168^th in scoring offense & 146^th in FG%, however, the Vaqueros have really struggled defensively and come into this game ranked just 329^th in scoring defense & 241^st in defensive FG%.

I’m a bit surprised not to see this line not set at double-digits as Grand Canyon is the far superior team which they showed in their recent win against San Francisco. UT Rio Grande Valley has been horrible defensively this season and as I think their offense struggles against a tough Antelopes defense, I think Grand Canyon wins this one by 10+ and has no trouble covering this spread. Good Luck!