Air Force Falcons vs. New Mexico Lobos Best Bets and Predictions
The No. 25 New Mexico Lobos try to bounce back from a rare loss when they host the Air Force Falcons in a Mountain West Conference clash on Friday night. New Mexico lost in double overtime to Nevada on Monday, dropping it into a fourth-place tie with Utah State in the conference college basketball standings.
Air Force has dropped two in a row, including a 30-point loss at San Jose State on Tuesday, and is tied with Fresno State for seventh place in the Mountain West Conference. This is the first of two meetings between these NCAA basketball teams, so let’s take a closer look at the Air Force vs New Mexico best bets for this contest.
Air Force Falcons vs. New Mexico Lobos Odds
Air Force Falcons vs. New Mexico Lobos Information
Air Force Falcons vs New Mexico Lobos
Location of the game: The Pit. Albuquerque, NM.
Date:Friday, January 27. 10:00 PM ET.
How to watch: CBS Sports Network.
Last Game Record
As stated earlier, this is the first matchup between these two on this season’s NCAAB schedule, but they are familiar with each other.
The conference rivals squared off two times last season, with New Mexico winning each game, though the contest in Albuquerque was the closer of the two, with the Lobos taking a four-point victory.
Air Force has yet to win a true road game against New Mexico since the 2006-07 season and is 3-16 all-time in away games against the Lobos. That will make it hard to favor the visiting team when making your Air Force vs New Mexico best bets.
Air Force Falcons vs. New Mexico Lobos Analysis
New Mexico has been one of the top teams in college basketball this season and is one of the usual March Madness picks made by prognosticators for the NCAA Tournament. But the Lobos have been having their troubles of late, with the double-overtime loss to Nevada coming after an overtime victory over Boise State on January 20.
Junior guard Jamal Mashburn Jr. has been one of the top college basketball players in the country when it comes to scoring, averaging 19.3 points per game. Mashburn is coming off a career-high 33-point performance in Monday’s loss and has scored 20 or more points in five straight games.
Senior guard Jaelen House is another dangerous player, averaging 17.3 points and 4.8 assists per contest. He had a near-triple-double in Monday’s loss, finishing with 17 points, ten assists, and seven rebounds.
Air Force Offense is Slower
Compared to the high-powered New Mexico offense that averages 82.5 points per game, Air Force is much slower in tempo, averaging just 68.1 points but also allowing just 65.2 points per contest. One of your Air Force vs New Mexico best bets is determining the pace at which this one will end up being played and applying that to the over/under.
Sophomore guard Jake Heidbreder is the top scorer for the Falcons, averaging 14.3 points per game. He’s shooting 37.6% from 3-point range this season, though that dips to 30% shooting when he’s played on the road.
If the Falcons are going to keep the game slowed down, they’ll need a big game from guard Ethan Taylor. The sophomore point guard leads the team with 3.5 assists per game while scoring 8.4 points per contest. He’ll need to keep the ball safe and avoid turnovers that would allow the Lobos to get out and run.
Neither of these teams has any new additions to the college basketball injury report.
Odds Breakdown
Air Force Falcons
Moneyline: The NCAAB oddsaren’t giving the Falcons much of a chance in this one, with the moneyline for an outright Air Force victory set at +570. It will be a very nice payoff if you want to make one of your Air Force Falcons picks to be a road win.
Spread: If you’re feeling good about the Falcons, this would be the bet to make, as you can get 12.5 points betting on the spread at -110 odds.
Over/Under: The over/under depends on which team you think can control the tempo. The number is set at 141.5 points for Friday’s contest.
New Mexico Lobos
Moneyline: As the ranked team, the New Mexico Lobos odds are heavily in their favor. Without giving any points, the moneyline is certainly one of the Air Force vs New Mexico best bets to make, but it’s not going to provide much of a payoff at -830.
Spread: The Lobos have been one of the better teams in the Mountain West all season, and they are 13-1 when playing at home. Coming off a loss, they’re going to be fired up to get a big win in this one, so giving 12½ points seems reasonable at -110 odds.
Over/Under: Of the NCAA basketball games today, this could end up being one of the higher-scoring affairs since the Lobos are playing at home and coming off a loss.
Air Force Falcons vs. New Mexico Lobos Betting Pick and Prediction
The New Mexico Lobos have been hard to shut down all season, especially Mashburn. The team doesn’t want to lose two straight and fall farther down in the Mountain West standings, so it will be ready to run from the opening tip.
With that in mind, when you make your NCAAB picks, go with New Mexico in a big win over the Air Force Falcons on Friday night.
Pick 1: New Mexico Lobos -12.5
Pick 2: Over 141.5 points
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