NCAAB Odds, Pick for UNC Asheville vs Auburn

Below, we have NCAAB odds and a pick for UNC Asheville vs Auburn.

Auburn and UNC Asheville meet in Huntsville, Alabama on Wednesday night for the Rocket City Classic.

This is the first Auburn game in the city in 20 years. The Southeastern Conference squad enters the matchup with a 6-2 record following an impressive 104-76 beatdown of Indiana on Saturday in Atlanta.

Meanwhile, the Bulldogs have battled through a tricky nonconference schedule to sit at 5-5 on the year.

With conference play just around the corner, this should be a great spot for both squads to build confidence with a good showing in the Rocket City Classic.

Last season was a memorable campaign on many levels for UNC Asheville under coach Mike Morrell. The Bulldogs racked up 27 wins and won the Big South as they earned the program’s first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2016.

Morrell returns a veteran squad into this campaign, with four of five starters and eight players overall returning from the 2022-23 team.

The key returner is the reigning Big South Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Year, Drew Pember. He finished the season averaging just under a double-double, with 20.9 points and 9.1 rebounds per game.

Pember has reached double-figures in every game but one this campaign, and the senior center will need another big performance here for the Bulldogs to get a victory.

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Auburn coach Bruce Pearl has put together a challenging nonconference slate this season, which ranks 62nd in strength of schedule in the country by Kenpom.

The Tigers picked up a pair of wins over Notre Dame and St. Bonaventure at the Legends Classic before knocking off Virginia Tech in the ACC/SEC Challenge. Pearl’s squad also hosts USC this upcoming Sunday in another big game.

Even with this difficult set of opponents, Auburn has still put up solid metrics so far. On the year, the Tigers are one of just nine teams to rank inside the top 25 by Barttorvik in both Offensive Efficiency and Defensive Efficiency.

Johni Broome's strong play has been a key part of the Tigers' start to the season. The junior big man ranks in the top 10 in the SEC in scoring (16.3 PPG), rebounding (8.9 RPG) and field goal percentage (54.3%).

During this solid start for Auburn, Pearl has gotten his team prepared and off to quick starts in games, and this is another spot where that will happen again.

Consequently, my best bet is to back the Tigers on the first-half spread of -11 or better. You could also back the SEC squad on the moneyline in the opening period as a safe parlay piece.

Through eight games, Pearl’s team ranks sixth in the country in average First-half Margin at +13.1. Auburn has also led at halftime in all but one of those contests, which came in the upset loss to Appalachian State.

Meanwhile, UNC Asheville has gotten off to slower starts in games, ranking outside the top 320 in First-half Margin. The Bulldogs have also been trailing at the break in all of their losses this campaign.

Michigan, UNC Wilmington and Lipscomb all covered this same spread against UNC Asheville, and Auburn is a much better team than those squads.

The scheduling spot with Auburn hosting USC this weekend isn't ideal, but Pearl should have his team focused after they were upset by Appalachian State just 10 days ago.

Pick: Auburn 1H -11 or better