Score Predictions for West Virginia vs UAB

Our staff picks who will win tonight's game between the Mountaineers and Blazers.

The West Virginia Mountaineers (7-2) welcome the University of Alabama at Birmingham Blazers (7-1) to the WVU Coliseum with tipoff scheduled for 6:00 p.m. EST and the action will stream on ESPN+.

Schuyler Callihan: West Virginia 80, UAB 76

West Virginia remains unbeaten at home for the season, but it won't come easy. Navy played a lot of zone the other night, which will help considering UAB morphs into all different sorts of zone coverages throughout the course of the game. After seeing how well WVU handled the zone, I feel pretty confident in their ability to consistently attack the soft spots and work the offense from the inside, out. 

Defensively, the key for WVU will be for Kedrian Johnson to stay out of foul trouble. He picked up two quick fouls the other night which forced Huggins to turn to the bench earlier than he would have liked. I foresee a similar thing happening tonight, which makes the first half a dogfight. 

UAB will lead at the half but the game turns in the final eight minutes when WVU finally strings together several defensive stops, creating a long UAB scoring drought.

Christopher Hall: West Virginia 85 UAB 77

UAB, the Conference USA reigning champs, returns four starters to the roster. The Blazers have gotten off to a hot start, ranking fourth nationally in scoring at 90.1 points per game and have the NCAA leading scorer in guard Jordan Walker, averaging 25.7 ppg. 

West Virginia topped UAB in Birmingham last season 65-59, and I suspect it will be the same outcome this year. 

WVU head coach Bob Huggins noted guard Kedrian Johnson held Walker to one of his lowest outputs last season, and with the addition of Joe Toussaint, I believe they will be able to, at the very least, make the Blazers one dimensional on the offensive end of the floor. 

UAB plays a lot of zone but West Virginia got a taste of it Wednesday night against Navy and will be prepared for it against the Blazers. 

West Virgnia will obviously need to make shots against the zone but there's plenty of options and it starts with Erik Stevenson. The Mountaineers will beat UAB 85-77.

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