BURN THE HORSE
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| UALR (3-10) at North Texas (7-6) 7 p.m. tonight Denton, Texas Vegas Says: UNT by 4 |
UALR opens Sun Belt Conference play at 7 p.m. tonight against North Texas at The Super Pit in Denton, Texas. This is a matchup of two young teams who have had very different experiences in pre-conference play. North Texas played a top-heavy schedule with some absolutely non-winnable games and several extremely winnable games. UALR played a much more level schedule with several games the Trojans could have won (but didn’t).
BTH Keys to Victory
Board it: UALR has improved dramatically rebounding since the start of the season. But North Texas has been solid in this area all year. The Mean Green outrebound their opponents by 6 per game and have 70 more offensive rebounds than their opponents. North Texas is 0-5 this season when it gets outrebounded. UALR can’t get dominated on the boards if it expects to win.
Solid start: When UALR has been able to get off to a good start at North Texas, the Trojans have fared well. When North Texas has dominated early, it’s generally meant a blowout victory for the Mean Green. UALR can’t dig themselves a hole like they did at Illinois State. North Texas is 1-5 this season when trailing at the half and 6-0 when leading at the half.
Take care: North Texas and UALR both have 36 more turnovers than assists this season. The team that flips that statistic tonight will have a huge advantage.
Someone else: UALR needs someone other than Will Neighbour or D’Andre Williams to pick up the scoring slack tonight. How about hometown kids like Chuck Guy, Courtney Jackson and Ben Dillard?
Vegas Says
Las Vegas favors North Texas by 4 points. UALR has still not been Vegas favored in a game this season. This is the 10th time a UALR game has made the board and the Trojans have been the underdog all 10 times. UALR is becoming somewhat of a Vegas darling though. The Trojans have beat the spread five consecutive times. North Texas hasn't spent much time as a favorite. The Mean Green is Vegas favored for just the second time this season (most of their games have been off the board).
Predictions
- CBS Sports line (10-2): North Texas 72, UALR 63
- Jeff Sagarin (9-3): North Texas 74, UALR 67
- The Sports Network (9-3):
- Real Time RPI (8-4): North Texas 78, UALR 59
- Combination: North Texas 75, UALR 63
