North Texas Mean Green vs UAB Blazers Prediction, 2/18/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: North Texas Mean Green vs UAB Blazers

Date: Sunday, February 18, 2024

Location: Bartow Arena in Birmingham, AL

TV: ESPN+

Bartow Arena is the location where the UAB Blazers (16-8) will go up against the North Texas Mean Green (14-10) on Sunday.

The North Texas Mean Green faced Memphis and walked away with a win by a score of 76-66 in their last game. In relation to personal fouls, the Mean Green walked away with 15 and Memphis recorded 15 personal fouls. They converted 9 out of their 29 attempts from distance. Memphis shot 81.3% when shooting free throws by burying 13 of 16 attempts. On top of that, Memphis grabbed 37 rebounds (16 offensive, 21 defensive), but didn't record a block for the team. Memphis doled out 12 assists and had 8 steals in the matchup. In reference to the defense, North Texas allowed the other team to go 37.3% from the floor on 22 out of 59 shooting. They also dished out 16 dimes for the contest in addition to forcing the other team into 14 turnovers and earning 8 steals. When discussing grabbing rebounds, they collected a total of 30 with 8 of them being offensive. From the free throw line, the Mean Green converted 12 of their 14 attempts for a rate of 85.7%. North Texas walked away from the contest with a 44.4% FG percentage (24 of 54) and buried 16 of 28 shots from downtown.

Jason Edwards is one guy who came through in this matchup. He scored 30 points on 8 of 16 shooting. He played 36 minutes and also snagged 4 rebounds. He ended up going 50.0% from the floor and earned 2 assists.

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North Texas will enter this game with a record of 14-10 so far this season. They turn the ball over 11.7 times per game and as a squad are committing 16.7 fouls on a nightly basis. As a team, North Texas is pulling in 35.5 rebounds per game and has 260 assists for the season, which has them ranked 337th in the country in terms of passing the ball. The Mean Green are shooting 38.0% on shots from distance (200 of 527) and 72.3% from the free throw line. They currently have an average of 67.7 pts per game (320th in D-1) while hitting 43.1% from the field.

Defensively, the Mean Green are forcing their opponents into 12.4 turnovers per game and they draw 15.2 fouls. They are giving up 30.9% on shots from distance and they rank 4th in the country in points per game allowed (60.7). The Mean Green defensively are giving up and opponent field goal percentage of 39.6% (500 of 1,263) and they surrender 32.5 boards per game as a group. They currently rank 3rd in college basketball in allowing assists with 230 conceded on the season.

When they last played, the UAB Blazers walked away with a victory by a final of 70-63 when they faced Tulsa. The Blazers collected 25 defensive boards and 13 offensive rebounds totaling 38 in this contest. They coughed up the ball 7 times, while getting 7 steals in the game. Tulsa committed 19 personal fouls for the contest which got the Blazers to the charity stripe for 22 shots. They were able to convert 15 of the free throw tries for a clip of 68.2%. When talking about shots from beyond the perimeter, UAB converted 7 out of 25 attempts (28.0%). When the final whistle blew, the Blazers ended up shooting 24 for 64 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 37.5%. The Blazers permitted Tulsa to make 24 of their 56 attempts from the floor which gave them a percentage of 42.9% for this game. They finished 20.0% from three-point range by going 3 of 15 and ended up going 12 of 15 from the free throw line (80.0%). In regard to rebounding, UAB allowed Tulsa to pull down 38 overall (7 on the offensive glass).

Eric Gaines ended up being important for the Blazers for the matchup. He converted 5 out of 9 for the game for a field goal percentage of 55.6%, and accounted for 2 rebounds. He earned 17 points in his 31 minutes on the hardwood and had 7 dimes for the game.

UAB has a record of 16-8 on the campaign. When it comes to offense, the Blazers are connecting on 44.4% from the floor, which has them ranked 205th in college hoops. UAB has accounted for 1,849 pts so far this season (77.0 per contest) and they pull in 38.6 rebounds per game. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 13.0 times per game (197th in college basketball) and they are giving up possession 11.8 times per game. The Blazers commit 15.9 personal fouls every game and they hit 74.8% from the charity stripe.

The Blazers on the defensive side of the court are 272nd in the nation in points allowed per contest with 75.0. They are forcing their opponents into 11.7 TO's every game and have allowed teams to shoot 44.2% from the floor (220th in D-1). The UAB defense allows 33.8% on 3-pointers (183 of 542) and opponents are connecting on 72.0% of their foul shots. They allow 13.2 dimes and 35.2 rebounds on a nightly basis, which is ranked 212th and 201st in the nation.

Who will win tonight's NCAA basketball game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take UAB

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