The UNC Asheville Bulldogs will take on the Wichita State Shockers in non-conference action in college basketball on Tuesday night. Both teams are hitting the court for the first time this year and we should learn a lot about both of these teams in a pretty good early-season test for both of them. Before the action begins in Wichita on Tuesday night, continue reading to get my UNC Asheville vs Wichita State prediction.
Wichita State opens their season at home, which has gone well for them historically. They are 89-29 all-time in season openers and 100-18 all-time in their home openers in program history. But Wichita State returns only three letter-winners and less than 1% of its scoring from last season, meaning there is roster turnover and questions about continuity heading into this season. That is the case for most college basketball teams, but it is still worth noting here.
UNC Asheville is comes into this season riding a recent multi-year wave of success. The Bulldogs have had three straight 20-win seasons, averaging 82.2 points per game last year and ranking in the top-20 in the country in scoring. But the question for Asheville will be whether they can continue to have success under Mike Morrell this year given all of the external factors that have made sustained success in mid-major college basketball so hard to find.
A big question going into this season for Asheville is going to be their defense. They were far from impenetrable on that end of the floor last season and things could get worse this year. KenPom's early rankings have Asheville at 271st out of 365 Division I teams on defense and it will be interesting to see how they perform defensively to start their season.
This is the first-ever meeting between UNC Asheville and Wichita State in college basketball. That means we don't have any head-to-head history to lean on while handicapping this game. But it also means that we get to settle in and watch a brand new matchup in college hoops, which is always exciting.
Score Projection: UNC Asheville 68 – Wichita State 78
Win Probability: UNC Asheville 28%, Wichita State 72%
I would think that Wichita State will get the job done on their home floor to start this season in college basketball. The Shockers should take advantage of the fact that Asheville's defense could struggle early in the year. I'll lay the points with the Shockers in this one, though I give UNC Asheville credit for playing a true road game to start this year.
Jay Sanin is the GM and Head of Sports at ATS.io. He has been writing about sports gambling since 2013, handicapping tens of thousands of sporting events. He plays sides and totals aggressively across most sports and is more selective in player prop markets. He does his own modeling across most sports, and his family is jealous of how much time he spends on his precious spreadsheets.
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