NIT Championship Odds for Final Game: UAB vs North Texas Betting Picks and Prediction

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The 2023 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) comes to a close on Thursday night from Las Vegas and it’s an all-Conference USA matchup in the title game as UAB takes on North Texas – although both schools will be headed to the AAC next season. The Blazers are short favorites on the NIT odds.

How to Bet UAB vs. North Texas MLB Odds & TV Info

When: Thursday, March 30 at 9:30 PM ET
Where: Orleans Arena, Las Vegas
TV: ESPN2
Stream/gameday audio: ESPN+
Opening NCAAB Lines: UAB -2 (total 128)

Season Series

North Texas leads 2-1 but lost to UAB in the Conference USA Tournament in the most recent meeting, 76-69. The Blazers jumped all over the Mean Green early in the contest, taking a 22-2 lead after nearly 12 minutes of play. With just over two minutes to go in the second half, the Blazers led by 11 after Jordan Walker knocked down his sixth three of the night. North Texas quickly erased the deficit, going on a 12-3 run over one minute to make it a 71-69 game following a pair of UAB turnovers. Eric Gaines and Tavin Lovan scored the game’s final five points at the free throw line to secure the win and a trip to the championship game for the Blazers.

Walker scored 32 points to go with six rebounds and six assists for the Blazers. KJ Buffen scored 13 points and added seven rebounds. Tylor Perry led the way for the Mean Green with 17 points. Aaron Scott had 13 points and 13 rebounds.

Why Bet on UAB?

The Blazers (29-9) advanced with an 88-86 overtime win over Utah Valley of the WAC in the semifinals – and now Utah Valley has lost Coach Mark Madsen to the top job at Cal. The Wolverines enjoyed their most successful season in program history with 28 wins and a WAC regular season title.

Trailing 74-70 with two minutes to play in regulation, UVU’s Trey Woodbury scored four unanswered points, including a game-tying bucket in the paint with 34 seconds remaining to tie the game 74-74. The UVU defense then held UAB to three straight missed field goals over the final 24 seconds to send the game into overtime. UVU tied the game 83-83 with one minute to play in overtime but were then outscored 5-2 in the final minute as UAB secured the 88-86 win.

Utah Valley shot 41.9 percent (31-74) on the night with a 25.0 percent (5-20) mark from three-point range. UVU held UAB to a 40.5 percent (32-79) clip from the field with a 43.8 percent (7-16) clip from long range. The Wolverines outrebounded UAB 50-48 and outscored the Blazers 46-40 in the paint.

“It’s who we are,” UAB coach Andy Kennedy said. “We have a number of different guys that can rise to the occasion. Some nights we’re dominant in the paint and try to win the free-throw line. Some nights it’s a defensive struggle, and some nights we have to outscore you. We have an eclectic group.”

Ty Brewer matched his career high with 30 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and recorded five steals while shooting 13-for-17 (.765) from the field to lead UAB. Brewer is a college basketball journeyman. He started his career at Southeastern Louisiana before transferring to East Tennessee State and then UAB for this season.

Despite struggling from the field, Jordan Walker finished with 17 points and six assists. Walker is shooting .921 (35-38) from the free throw line in the postseason. Eric Gaines added 13 points, three rebounds and two assists. Trey Jemison has reached 322 rebounds on the year, ranking third in program history, three shy of the program record.

UAB has advanced to the NIT title game for the first time in program history. The Blazers were previously 0-2 in semifinal games.

Bet UAB to Win Today
MyBookie Betting Lines for the Game

Why Bet on North Texas?

UNT (30-7) is likely to lose Coach Grant McCasland after this game to take over at Texas Tech after Mark Adams stepped down. McCasland has spent most of his basketball life in Texas and has done a stellar job at North Texas, whose 30 wins are a school record.

McCasland got his start in coaching at Texas Tech as the program’s director of operations from 1999-2001. McCasland’s wife, Cece, played soccer for the Red Raiders. McCasland has Big 12 experience from his time as an assistant coach at Baylor from 2011-16. He was the head coach at Arkansas State in 2016-17 for a year before taking over at UNT.

The Mean Green advanced with a 56-54 comeback win over Wisconsin. UNT, which trailed 41-29 at halftime, took its first lead of the game at 56-54 with 2:08 remaining on Moulaye Sissoko’s shot in the lane to cap a 10-0 run. Wisconsin forward Tyler Wahl missed two free throws with 49.1 seconds left and North Texas worked the clock down before Perry had it poked away. Wahl had a shot blocked at the rim, but Wisconsin secured the loose ball and called a timeout with 5.8 left. Wisconsin got it inside to Wahl but Sissoko knocked it away and dove on the ball to end it.

North Texas was led by Tylor Perry who scored 16 points. Rubin Jones scored all 12 of his points in the second half. On the defensive end, UNT held Wisconsin’s Chucky Hepburn to zero points in the second half after he torched them for 15 in the first half. The Badgers made just one of their final 16 shot attempts.

UNT forced nine Wisconsin (20-15) turnovers in the second half. UW entered the game as one of the best teams in the country at not turning the ball over. “Our guys hung on attacking and at halftime believed that we could win,” McCasland said.

This is the first time in program history UNT has advanced to the NIT title game. They are now 11-3 in the McCasland era in NCAA postseason games. North Texas had never won an NCAA postseason game prior to McCasland’s arrival in 2017.

North Texas ranks No. 1 nationally in scoring defense. Starting big man Abou Ousmane (11.1 ppg, 6.0 rpg) hasn’t played since the NIT opener due to personal reasons and won’t Thursday.

Bet North Texas to Win Today
MyBookie Betting Lines for the Game

Game Trends

• Blazers are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 Thursday games.
• Blazers are 8-3 ATS in their last 11 games vs. a team with a winning straight up record.
• Blazers are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games overall.
• Mean Green are 12-3 ATS in their last 15 games overall.
• Mean Green are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 Thursday games.
• Underdog is 8-3 ATS in the last 11 meetings.

Expert Prediction

UAB 68, North Texas 65

North Texas and UAB advance to NIT Championship

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