Middle Tennessee vs UTEP Prediction 3/1/25 College Basketball Picks

The Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders and the UTEP Miners meet Saturday in college basketball action from Don Haskins Center. Here’s a Middle Tennessee vs UTEP prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Middle Tennessee vs UTEP pick. We will examine: 

The Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders recent form and player performance

The UTEP Miners recent form and player performance 

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the UTEP Miners

Recent betting trends in games played between Middle Tennessee and UTEP

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Middle Tennessee vs UTEP game

Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders Betting Preview

Middle Tennessee has been pretty solid overall this year, with only one instance of consecutive losses. The Blue Raiders opened up on a decent 10-5 run, taking losses to Murray State, Bradley, Belmont, Tennessee and Liberty along the way. Middle Tennessee would then beat Kennesaw State, Jacksonville State, Western Kentucky and Sam Houston before a 1-3 run that featured losses to LA Tech, New Mexico State and Jacksonville State (with a win over UTEP). Since then it’s been a 4-1 run for the Blue Raiders. The loss came to LA Tech; otherwise it was wins over Kennesaw State, Western Kentucky, Sam Houston and New Mexico State. That gives Middle Tennessee a 19-9 overall run through 28 games so far this year. 

In the New Mexico State matchup on Thursday, the Blue Raiders were down by one point 28-27 by the break. Middle Tennessee rallied on a 44-38 second-half run though, eventually toughing it out in a 71-66 road victory. Camryn Weston had a great day off the bench with 30 points, three rebounds and a steal in 31 minutes. Essam Mostafa added 15 points with seven boards, two assists and two steals in 28 minutes, and Justin Bufford chipped in eight points with six rebounds, three steals and three assists. 

UTEP Miners Betting Preview

Over on the Miners’ side, they’ve been good most of the year but have been struggling since the end of January. UTEP opened with a 12-3 run, taking losses to only Utah Valley, San Jose State and Louisville in that time. A 5-4 run came next with wins over Liberty, Florida International, Kennesaw State, New Mexico State and FIU again mixed with losses to New Mexico State, Jacksonville State, Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee. The last four games have been losses to Liberty, Kennesaw State, Jacksonville State and Western Kentucky. In total that gives the Miners a 17-11 overall run through the first 28 games of the campaign. 

Matched up against Western Kentucky in the home rematch on Thursday, the Miners came out of halftime with a rough 40-23 deficit. UTEP couldn’t dig out of the sizable hole on a 50-40 run from there and lost 80-73 in the end. Leading the starters was David Terrell with 14 points, eight boards, five assists and three steals. Kevin Kalu added 13 points with seven rebounds and Devon Barnes came off the bench for 14 points and two assists in 23 minutes of work. 

Why the UTEP Miners will win

• Middle Tennessee has lost six of its last seven games against the Conference USA at Don Haskins Center.
• UTEP has won 12 of its last 15 games at Don Haskins Center following a home loss.

Why the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders will win

• Middle Tennessee has won seven of its last eight day games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• UTEP has lost each of its last four games against the Conference USA.
• UTEP has lost the first half in four of its last five day games against Conference opponents.

Middle Tennessee vs UTEP Prediction 

I’m leaning toward Middle Tennessee. This is a pretty important game for both squads, though. The Raiders started a little slowly in their latest win over New Mexico State, but eventually shot 46.9 percent from the field with a nice 18-of-21 (85.7 percent) from the line. The 14 turnovers for 15 Aggies points were the only real blemish in the victory. MTSU has won four of their last five games now with 71 or more points in each win. 

The Raiders powered out a 71-68 home win the last time these teams saw each other back on February 1. Middle Tennessee needs to clean up their ball-control mistakes in the rematch but they should be in pretty good shape overall for a potential cover.