UNLV vs Air Force Prediction College Basketball Picks 12/31/24

The UNLV Rebels and the Air Force Falcons meet Tuesday in college basketball action from Clune Arena. Here’s a UNLV vs Air Force prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best UNLV vs Air Force pick. We will examine:

The UNLV Rebels’ recent form and player performance

The Air Force Falcons’ recent form and player performance

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the UNLV Rebels

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Air Force Falcons

Recent betting trends in games played between UNLV and Air Force

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the UNLV vs Air Force game

UNLV Rebels Betting Preview

The Rebels went 4-4 over their first eight games this year, taking losses to Memphis, Mississippi State, Northwestern, and Creighton along the way. The wins otherwise in that span were versus Alabama State, Omaha, Pepperdine, and New Mexico State. UNLV is 3-1 since then with wins over Pacific, UC Riverside, and Fresno State. The lone loss came 66-65 versus Dayton back on December 17.

In the Fresno State game on Saturday, the Rebels were up 48-30 by halftime. UNLV was outscored 47-39 the rest of the way but still won 87-77 in the end. Leading team scorer Dedan Thomas put up 21 points with six assists. Jailen Bedford came off the bench to post 18 points and three rebounds, while Jaden Henley scored 15 with five rebounds and two assists. Also in double-figures was Pape N’Diaye with 11 points and six rebounds off the bench.

With 16.8 points and 4.3 assists per game, Thomas leads UNLV in scoring so far this year. Henley is in second with 10.9 points and 3.4 rebounds per game. Also in double figures are Bedford (10.8 PPG) and Jeremiah Cherry (10.1 PPG).

Air Force Falcons Betting Preview

Over on the Air Force side, they posted a 2-4 record to start out the year, beating only Jacksonville State and Mercyhurst. The losses came from North Alabama, Long Island University, Belmont, and California. The Falcons are 1-5 since then with losses to Sacramento State, Wright State, Miami-OH, Northern Colorado, and Boise State alongside a lone win over Stony Brook on December 7.

Matched up against Boise State on December 21, the Falcons were within one point at the break. Air Force was outscored 45-28 the rest of the way, however, and lost 77-59. Luke Kearney was the leading team scorer with 16 points and two assists. Kyle Marshall was the only other team player to finish in double-figures with 13 points, three rebounds, and a pair of steals. Both Wesley Celichowski and Sam Springer added eight points apiece.

Ethan Taylor is Air Force’s leading scorer thus far. He’s got 14.8 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game. Celichowski is the only other team player in double-digits with 10.5 points and 2.2 rebounds per game thus far, but Walker isn’t too far off with 9.0 points per game.

Why the Air Force Falcons will win

• Air Force has won five of its last six home games against UNLV following a road loss.
• UNLV has lost each of its last three road games.
• Air Force has won the first half in three of its last four day games against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Why the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels will win

• Air Force has lost each of its last 11 games against the Mountain West Conference at Clune Arena.
• UNLV has won five of its last six road games against the Mountain West Conference.
• Air Force has lost the first half in five of its last six games against Conference opponents.

UNLV vs Air Force Prediction

I’ll stay with UNLV. The Rebels played well overall versus Fresno State in their last game, shooting a nice 53.8 percent from the field with a 39-27 rebounding advantage. UNLV has had some issues scoring lately, however; they’d been at 66 points or below in five of the previous six games.

As for Air Force, they shot very well overall (54.8 percent) in their loss to Boise State but also got outmuscled 30-21 on the boards and coughed up 18 turnovers. The Falcons have been below 70 points in five of the last six games, and they’ve surrendered 70 or more points in each of their last four losses. If UNLV can get to that threshold—and get some bench contributions to help balance things out—the Rebels should be in great shape cover-wise.

Andrew Jett's Pick: UNLV Rebels -8.5