Free Pick | Saturday | NCAA | March 16

Nelly’s had a huge 4-1 Friday including a 7* top play blowout – sign up for March Madness!

#631 UTEP +3 over Western Kentucky 7:30 PM CT

Western Kentucky has put on a clinic in Huntsville with a pair of blowout wins. The Hilltoppers have had a favorable path facing New Mexico State on Thursday and then yesterday drawing Middle Tennessee State instead of Louisiana Tech. UTEP represents a dramatic jump in class for Saturday’s Conference USA Championship. Western Kentucky lost its final four regular season games and hasn’t had a top 200 win since beating UTEP at home on February 15. The Miners led early in that game but missed 11 free throws and shot 28 percent beyond the arc. UTEP won the early season meeting in El Paso and is battle-tested with two tense wins so far in tournament action the past two days facing much tougher competition than Western Kentucky has faced. UTEP is 5-0 in the past five games with three top 150 wins and amazing defensive numbers allowing just 62 points per game on average. UTEP finished as the #1 defense in Conference USA this season and has held opponents to just 32 percent 3-point shooting. The Miners are also the top turnover producing defense not just in Conference USA but in the entire nation as elite defense should be on display in this Championship. Blowout wins vs. two of the worst teams in the conference the past two days shouldn’t move the needle on the Hilltoppers but this line is getting inflated even while UTEP impressively beat the #1 seed yesterday.