The UIC Flames and the Western Michigan Broncos meet Saturday in college basketball action from University Arena. UIC is 5-4 overall this year. The Flames lost to Drake in their last game. As for Western Michigan, they’re 3-6 and fresh off a win over Concordia MI. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
UIC went 2-2 over their first four games this year. The losses in that time were to Loyola IL and Fordham. The Flames hit a 3-2 run over the next five, beating Stonehill, Holy Cross and Green Bay before losses to Missouri State and Drake.
Matched up against Drake last weekend, the Flames were down 39-19 by halftime. UIC got better with 45 second-half points but still lost 77-64. Jace Carter posted 18 points in the loss, and Toby Okani doubled on 13 points and 10 boards.
Over on the Western Michigan side, they also hit a 2-2 run out of the gate this year with wins over Goshen and Houston Christian. The Broncos lost to Rice, Georgia Southern, Cleveland State and Dayton before another win over Concordia MI.
In the Concordia MI game on Monday, the Broncos took a 39-23 lead into the second half. Western Michigan scored another 55 points after the break and won 94-50. Markeese Hastings put up 22 points with 17 rebounds to lead the team.
PICK: I’ll probably stick with UIC. Not going near this one, but it should be a competitive game. The Flames have had a couple of tricky matchups in their last pair, scoring a combined 115 points against Missouri State and Drake. That said, UIC scored 77 or more points for three straight outings prior to that, and I think they’ll get closer to that output in this matchup. As for Western Michigan, they scored 57 or fewer in three straight games late last month but bounced back with 94 points in their last outing. Ultimately I don’t think the Broncos will keep up a cover/win pace if UIC is playing to their capabilities, though.