It figures to be a high-scoring affair as the UAB Blazers (17-3) visit Western Kentucky to play the Hilltoppers (10-10). The game starts at 7:30 pm ET on Thursday, Jan. 28 and will air on FS1.
The Hilltoppers lost to Charlotte 88-71 in their last game. Fredrick Edmond recorded 18 points and 14 rebounds, earning his second double-double of the year. The Blazers are coming off a 78-57 win over North Texas in their last outing. Chris Cokley shot 8 for 11 and led in scoring with 16 points.
The high-octane offense of the Blazers (28th in the nation with an offensive efficiency of 115.0) will try to exploit the porous defense of the Hilltoppers (327th in the nation with a defensive efficiency of 111.8), a matchup that should be advantageous to UAB.
Western Kentucky is a small two-point underdog in this game and the Over/Under (O/U) is 148 points. The Hilltoppers enter the game with records of 10-10 Straight Up (SU) and 7-9 Against The Spread (ATS).
On the other side, the Blazers head into the game with records of 9-6 ATS and 17-3 SU. Most recently, UAB is 6-2 ATS over the last 10 games. The Blazers are shooting lights out so far, with a .488 field-goal percentage that ranks 18th in Division I. The Blazers are one of the top teams in the country at finding the open man with an average of 19.2 assists per game. UAB’s three-point defense is one of the top in the country, with opponents shooting only .297 from the three.
This is the first meeting of the season for Western Kentucky and UAB. The last time they played, UAB came out on top, taking the head-to-head record to an even 2-2 SU. However, Western Kentucky leads the matchup ATS with a record of 3-1.
Predictions: SU Winner – UAB, ATS Winner – UAB, O/U – Over
Notes
Western Kentucky is 2-5 ATS in its last 7 games.
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Western Kentucky’s last 7 games.
Western Kentucky is 19-3 SU in its last 22 games at home.
Western Kentucky averages 77.1 points per game, placing the team just 101st in the nation. UAB ranks 69th in points allowed, giving up 66.9 points per game.
Western Kentucky averages 80.7 points per home game (ranked 98th). UAB allows 68.9 points per away game (ranked 53rd).
The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers rank 72nd for their offensive rating of 111.5. The UAB Blazers have a defensive rating of 97.3 (ranked 69th).
Western Kentucky averages 69.2 possessions per game, scoring 1.115 points on each possession. While UAB averages fewer possessions per game with 68.7, they score more points per possession with 1.150.
The UAB Blazers have one of the best effective field goal percentages this season, ranking 22nd in the country with an eFG% of 55.1%. When their opponents record a similar or higher eFG%, the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers have an underachieving 1-9 record.
On average, Western Kentucky attempts 19.0 three pointers and UAB attempts 19.0. In games where they have 20 or more three point attempts, the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers are 5-6 while the UAB Blazers have a fantastic 9-2 record.
The UAB Blazers rank 17th with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.52, while the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers rank outside the top 100 at 171st with an A/TO of 1.06.
Western Kentucky ranks 84th in rebounds per game with 38.5 and UAB ranks 75th with 38.8 rebounds per game.
The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers make an average of 4.5 steals per game. When the UAB Blazers allow 4 or more steals, they are a tremendous 11-3.
