Furman Paladins vs Cincinnati Bearcats Prediction, 12/9/2020 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Furman Paladins vs Cincinnati Bearcats

Date: Wednesday, December 9, 2020

Location: Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati, OH

TV: ESPN+

Odds/Point Spread: Furman (+2.5)

Fifth Third Arena is the venue where and the Cincinnati Bearcats (1-1) will take on the Furman Paladins (4-0) on Wednesday. Cincinnati opens this contest as 2.5-point favorites. The over/under opens at 139.5.

Furman enters this game with a win-loss record of 4-0 on the campaign. They lose possession via turnover 12.8 times per game and as a group are committing 18.3 personal fouls per game. As a team, Furman is pulling in 43.0 rebounds per game and has 82 dimes for the year, which has them ranked 18th in the nation in terms of passing. The Paladins are hitting 34.7% on three-point attempts (35 of 101) and 76.5% from the charity stripe. They have an average of 89.0 pts per game (30th in Division 1) while hitting 52.5% from the floor. Defensively, the Paladins are able to force 17.0 turnovers per contest while drawing 17.5 personal fouls. The Paladins defense is allowing a shooting percentage of 36.7% (90 of 245) and they concede 33.8 rebounds per contest as a unit. They are 158th in the nation in giving up assists to the opposition with 43 surrendered so far this year. They are relinquishing 23.1% on 3-point attempts and they are ranked 28th in college hoops in points per game allowed (57.8).

The Furman Paladins faced the Charleston Cougars and went home with a win by a final score of 81-57 in their last contest. Furman finished having earned a 51.7% field goal percentage (30 of 58) and knocked down 16 out of their 34 shots from 3-point land. From the charity stripe, the Paladins converted 5 of their 6 attempts for a rate of 83.3%. When it comes to rebounding, they earned 29 with 5 of them being on the offensive end. They also recorded 20 assists in this matchup in addition to earning 6 steals and 6 rejections. With respect to defense, Furman let their opponent shoot 51.7% from the field on 30 of 58. Charleston recorded 10 dimes and 6 steals for the contest. Moreover, the Cougars pulled down 37 rebounds (16 offensive, 21 defensive) and earned 6 blocked shots. Charleston finished the game at 42.9% from the free throw line by knocking down 6 of 14 tries. They buried 5 of 23 attempts from 3-point range.

Jalen Slawson is a guy who had an impact in the game. He scored 16 points on 5 out of 6 shooting. He played 34 minutes and also pulled down 10 rebounds. Slawson walked away from this one shooting 83.3% from the floor and totaled 9 assists. Someone else that was a contributor in this matchup for the Paladins was Mike Bothwell. He pulled down 4 boards and also collected 3 assists. He went 71.4% from the floor in the game via 10-of-14 (26 points). Overall, Bothwell played 32 minutes.

Cincinnati has a win-loss record of 1-1 so far this season. Cincinnati has totaled 136 pts for the campaign (68.0 per contest) and they snag 34.5 boards per game. The Bearcats commit 17.5 personal fouls every game and they go 60.7% from the charity stripe. When it comes to offense, the Bearcats are connecting on 43.7% from the field, which is ranked 221st in the nation. They are dishing out assists 17.0 times per contest (63rd in college basketball) and they lose possession via turnover 10.0 times per game. The Bearcats on defense are ranked 107th in college hoops in PPG given up with 66.0. The Cincinnati defense allows 37.0% on shots from distance (10 of 27) and their opposition knocks down 78.3% of their foul shots. They have relinquished 14.0 dimes and 29.5 rebounds per game, which has them ranked 198th and 27th in the country. They are forcing their opponents into 15.5 TO's every game and allow teams to shoot 47.8% from the floor (264th in D-1).

For their last game, the Cincinnati Bearcats went home defeated by a final of 77-69 against the Xavier Musketeers. The Bearcats snagged 23 defensive rebounds and 6 offensive boards totaling 29 for the game. They blocked 2 shots while getting 5 steals for the contest. The Musketeers committed 17 fouls for the contest which got the Bearcats to the free throw line for a total of 15 tries. They were able to convert 10 of the free throw tries for a percentage of 66.7%. Pertaining to shooting from distance, Cincinnati knocked down 5 out of their 21 tries (23.8%). When the final whistle was blown, the Bearcats finished 27 out of 64 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 42.2%. The Bearcats allowed the Musketeers to make 25 out of 49 attempts from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 51.0% in the matchup. They went 38.9% from beyond the perimeter via 7 of 18 and ended up going 20 of 25 from the free throw line (80.0%). Regarding rebounds, Cincinnati allowed Xavier to collect 30 overall (0 on the offensive glass).

David Dejulius ended up having an impact for the Bearcats in this contest. He knocked down 6 of 11 for this contest giving him a rate of 54.5%, which earned him 16 points. Dejulius snagged 5 rebounds in his 29 mins played and tallied 6 assists for the game. One more player that ended up playing a role for Cincinnati was Keith Williams. He finished with 18 points in his 31 minutes played by way of 6 out of 16 shooting for the game. Williams ended up shooting 37.5% from the field and also contributing 3 assists and 6 rebounds.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Furman (+2.5)

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