The New Mexico Lobos (19-5, 6-5 MWC) and Air Force Falcons (12-13, 3-7) meet Friday in a Mountain West Conference battle in Colorado Springs. Tip-off at Clune Arena is at 9 p.m. ET (FS1). Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook’s lines around the New Mexico vs. Air Force odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.
New Mexico lost just twice between Nov. 7-Jan. 20 but has since dropped 3 of its last 4 games. The lone win in that recent stretch came against these Falcons: NMU downed Air Force 81-73 on Jan. 27, failing to cover as a 13.5-point favorite as the Over (142.5) connected.
That Jan. 27 loss to NMU marked the Falcons’ 3rd in a row but that skid has extended to 6 games. Air Force has yielded a 49.4% mark from the field alongside 72.2 points per game over that 6-game span.
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New Mexico at Air Force odds
Provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 6:39 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline: Off the board (OTB)
- Against the spread (ATS): New Mexico -5.5 (-115) | Air Force +5.5 (-105)
- Over/Under (O/U): 142.5 (O: -115 | U: -105)
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New Mexico at Air Force picks and predictions
Prediction
New Mexico 73, Air Force 67
Moneyline
The moneyline was OTB at the time of publication. Focus on the total in this game instead.
PASS.
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Against the spread
The Lobos are better at both ends of the floor. Recent comps for each side spell out a fair number here. PASS.
Over/Under
The Under is 4-1 in the Lobos’ last 5 games against under-.500 teams.
Air Force plays at a turtle-crawl tempo while New Mexico plays much faster pace. However, the Lobos have a top-30 tempo overall but have notably slowed of late.
Don’t expect a lot of transition ball or an abundance of 2nd-chance looks. Air Force will add things up with some extra 3s, and NMU will add some extra free throws, but both teams are strong in defending the perimeter.
The Falcons have also played a slate heavy with good offensive teams, so you can figure their defense as being better than what shows on paper.
BACK THE UNDER 142.5 (-105).
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