Air Force Falcons vs Drake Bulldogs Prediction, 12/13/2020 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Air Force Falcons vs Drake Bulldogs

Date: Sunday, December 13, 2020

Location: The Knapp Center in Des Moines, IA

TV: ESPN+

Odds/Point Spread: Air Force (+12)

The Air Force Falcons (2-1) head to The Knapp Center on Sunday where they'll take on the Drake Bulldogs (5-0). Drake opens this matchup as 12-point favorites. The over/under opens at 130.5.

Air Force enters this matchup with a win-loss record of 2-1 this year. They currently have an average of 56.7 points per outing (296th in Division 1) while hitting 45.0% from the floor. The Falcons are shooting 39.4% on 3-pointers (26 of 66) and 73.7% from the free throw line. As a team, Air Force is pulling in 29.3 rebounds per game and is sitting with 39 dimes on the campaign, which has them ranked 242nd in the country in terms of passing. They cough up possession 15.3 times per contest and as a basketball team they are committing 16.0 fouls every game. When they are on defense, the Falcons are able to force 10.3 turnovers per contest and they draw 14.7 fouls. The Falcons defense is allowing a shooting percentage of 37.0% (60 of 162) and they relinquish 31.0 boards per contest as a squad. They rank 41st in college hoops in allowing assists to the opposition with 26 conceded for the year. They relinquish 29.7% on three-point shots and they are ranked 19th in D-1 in PPG from their opponents (56.0).

The Air Force Falcons took the court against the Lamar Cardinals and walked away with a win by a score of 59-44 in their last game. Air Force ended with a 51.2% FG percentage (21 out of 41) and made 9 out of their 21 shots from distance. At the charity stripe, the Falcons buried 8 of 11 shots for a rate of 72.7%. In terms of rebounding, they earned 28 with 1 of them being of the offensive variety. They also doled out 16 dimes in this matchup as well as having 9 steals and 4 blocked shots. Regarding defending, Air Force allowed the other team to go 51.2% from the field on 21 out of 41. Lamar totaled 3 dimes and 9 steals for this contest. Additionally, the Cardinals pulled down 26 rebounds (5 offensive, 21 defensive) and earned 4 blocks. Lamar walked away from this one shooting 68.8% at the free throw line by knocking down 11 of their 16 tries. They also made 1 of their 6 shots from downtown.

Keaton Van Soelen is a player who played a lot in this matchup. He had 15 points on 5 out of 7 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 35 minutes and totaled 5 rebounds. Soelen finished the game at 71.4% from the field and also earned 5 dimes. An additional guy that saw a lot of court time in this matchup for the Falcons was Chris Joyce. He grabbed 5 rebounds and had 3 assists. He went 66.7% from the field in this game by going 8-of-12 (23 points). When the final whistle was blown, Joyce played for 35 minutes.

Drake has a record of 5-0 on the year. Drake has accumulated 423 points for the campaign (84.6 per contest) and they grab 39.6 boards per game. The Bulldogs have committed 16.4 fouls per game and they connect on 73.4% from the charity stripe. As an offensive unit, the Bulldogs are hitting on 52.2% from the floor, which ranks them 64th in the nation. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 18.4 times per contest (33rd in D-1) and they are turning it over 11.4 times per contest. The Bulldogs defensively are ranked 49th in D-1 in points given up per game with 61.6. The Drake defense gives up 34.6% on shots from distance (37 of 107) and opponents are converting on 66.3% of their free throw attempts. They have allowed 9.6 dimes and 34.0 boards every game, which ranks 39th and 111th in D-1. They are forcing 15.2 turnovers per game and have let teams shoot 36.6% from the field (37th in the country).

In their last game, the Drake Bulldogs went home victorious with a score of 90-66 when they faced the McKendree University Bearcats. The Bulldogs earned 29 defensive rebounds and 10 offensive rebounds for a total of 39 in the matchup. They blocked 7 shots while recording 8 steals in the game. The Bearcats were called for 9 personal fouls for this game which took the Bulldogs to the free throw line for a total of 9 attempts. They were able to convert 6 of the free throw attempts for a rate of 66.7%. Regarding shooting from 3-point land, Drake buried 4 out of their 14 attempts (28.6%). When the final whistle was blown, the Bulldogs ended up going 40 for 65 from the field which gave them a percentage of 61.5%. The Bulldogs permitted the Bearcats to convert 24 of 63 tries from the field which left them with a shooting percentage of 38.1% for the game. They finished 42.3% from distance by shooting 11 out of 26 and ended up shooting 7 out of 11 from the free throw line (63.6%). Regarding how they cleaned up the glass, Drake allowed McKendree to get 22 in all (6 offensive).

Roman Penn played big minutes for the Bulldogs for this contest. He made 6 of 10 for the matchup for a field goal rate of 60.0%, which had him sitting at 13 points. Penn snagged 4 rebounds in his 25 minutes and had 5 dimes for the contest. One more player who saw a lot of court time for Drake was ShanQuan Hemphill. He was able to score 23 points in 24 minutes on the hardwood via 11 of 13 shooting in this matchup. Hemphill finished going 84.6% from the floor as well as contributing 3 assists and 6 rebounds.

Who will win tonight's college basketball game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Air Force (+12)

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