Check out our free UTEP vs Middle Tennessee pick and preview for this NCAA Basketball game in Murfreesboro. See who we like to win and cover the spread in this College Basketball matchup.

UTEP vs Middle Tennessee Pick & Preview: Thursday, February 2nd Betting Odds

Miners vs Blue Raiders Matchup at a Glance

  • Sport: NCAAB
  • Teams: UTEP Miners at Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders
  • Where: Murfreesboro at Murphy Athletic Center
  • Date: Thursday, February 2nd
  • Betting Odds: UTEP +4.5, UTEP +163 | MTNST -208 O/U 128.5

Miners Preview:

Coming into today’s matchup, the UTEP Miners are in the middle of a 2 game losing streak and have an overall record of 11-10. So far, the Miners have played 8 games on the road, with a record of 1-7. For the season, UTEP has been the underdog in 11 games, sitting with a mark of 2-9. Currently, the oddsmakers have the lines set with the Miners being +4.5 point underdogs.

UTEP will be counting on another strong performance from the team’s leading scorer Tae Hardy who is averaging 12.62 points per game for the Miners. Hardy is also important to the team’s ability to score on the perimeter. So far, he leads the team in 3-point shots made. Also key to the Miners’ offensive game plan is the play of Shamar Givance who has hit 39.3% of his field goal attempts on his way to averaging 10.14 points per game.

Offensive production has been hard to come by for UTEP this season, as they are currently ranked 275th in college basketball at 68.8 points per game. A major reason for low scoring totals is the fact that they have played at a below average pace, and have struggled to knock down outside shots. As a team, the Miners’ 3-point shooting percentage sits at just 35.2%, placing them 171st in the NCAA.

Blue Raiders Preview:

Middle Tennessee heads into this matchup having played 22 games and have an overall record sitting at 13-9. So far this season, Middle Tennessee has played 12 games at home, sitting with a record of 10-2. At the time of this article, the oddsmakers have the Blue Raiders as the -4.5 point favorites. The Blue Raiders have been favored 11 times, going 7-4 straight up.

Middle Tennessee will be counting on another strong performance from the team’s leading scorer Eli Lawrence who is averaging 12.41 points per game for the Blue Raiders. Lawrence is also important to the team’s ability to score on the perimeter. So far, he leads the team in 3-point shots made. Also key to the Blue Raiders’ offensive game plan is the play of DeAndre Dishman who has hit 52.8% of his field goal attempts on his way to averaging 11.27 points per game.

On offense, Middle Tennessee is scoring a rate similar to the NCAA average at 74.4 points per game. This figure has come despite struggling to knock down shots from outside. Through 22 games, they have only hit 32.8% of their 3-point field goal attempts. For the season, 43.09% of their shots have come from beyond the arc.

Free Spread Prediction: Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders -4.5

Heading into this matchup, our NCAA betting model has identified this game as a profitable opportunity and recommends taking the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders to pick up the win and cover the spread as -4.5 point betting favorites. Although Middle Tennessee as a team is just 167th in overall shooting percentage, we see their offense putting together a strong performance against the Miners’ defense. At -4.5 we see there being plenty of value in grabbing the Blue Raiders to come out on top and cover.