Sports Handicapper Kyle Hunter's Picks & Predictions

*3 Star Play Under* I like Wes Miller's defense. Miller did a great job at UNC Greensboro for years, and now he is doing a good job with this Cincinnati Bearcats defense. Cincinnati will use a full court zone press quite a bit, but it is actually used to slow the pace down. Cincinnati has solid shot blockers, and it is very difficult to get into the lane against them. They are holding opponents to just 40.6% on 2 point shots (2nd best in the nation). 

Tulsa is a defensive minded team under Frank Haith as well. Tulsa likes to mix up their defenses and run some zone and trapping defenses to throw the opposing offenses off guard. Tulsa doesn't get to the line much at all. They are reliant on too many bad mid range jumpers.

Cincinnati's defense has showed they are capable against good offenses of late. They held Wichita State to 57 points. They also held SMU to just 60 points. 

Look for a defensive battle.

Take the under. 

*3 Star Play Under* The Eastern Illinois Panthers have been an under machine this year. They clearly will have some overs at some point in the season, but I have to get back on the under in this one. If it isn't broke...

Eastern Illinois has seen a whopping 11 of their last 12 Division I contests go under this posted total. This is a team that is consistently finishing with 55 points or less. Against the best teams they have played, they have routinely been in the 40's. They just scored 46 against Murray State earlier this week. A similar number here wouldn't surprise me at all.

Murray State put up 72 points earlier this week against Eastern Illinois. The Racers shot above 50% from the floor in that game. Murray State has shown they are willing to slow the game down with a big lead, which is important since they are massive favorites once again here.

Take the under. 

*3 Star Play Under* The Summit League has a lot of teams who are very bad on defense. These are two of the good defenses up against each other. North Dakota State has been first in the Summit in defensive efficiency two years and second last year. They should be a top three defense in this league by the end of the year again. UMKC was first in defensive efficiency last year, and they are second so far this season.

UMKC and North Dakota State also prefer to play at a slower pace than most of the teams in this league. We should see a slow paced game between these two once again. 

UMKC ranks 315th in the nation in offensive efficiency. The Kangaroos have faced the 301st toughest slate of defenses (very easy) so it hasn't been the strength of the defenses holding them back. They have faced the 120th toughest offenses, and they are still a defense oriented team.

Look for both teams to struggle to find open shots in this one.

Take the under.