Montana Grizzlies vs Southern Utah Thunderbirds Prediction, 12/5/2020 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Montana Grizzlies vs Southern Utah Thunderbirds

Date: Saturday, December 5, 2020

Location: America First Events Center in Cedar City, UT

TV: ESPN3

Odds/Point Spread: Montana (-1)

America First Events Center is the venue where and the Southern Utah Thunderbirds (2-1) will play the Montana Grizzlies (0-2) on Saturday. Southern Utah opens this contest as 1-point dogs. The total opens at 140.

Montana enters this contest with a record of 0-2 on the year. The Grizzlies are hitting 30.3% on shots from downtown (10 of 33) and 58.1% from the free throw line. They average 62.5 points per contest (241st in Division 1) while hitting 40.5% from the floor. They are losing possession via turnover 12.5 times per contest and as a basketball team are committing 28.5 personal fouls every game. As a team, Montana is snagging 30.5 rebounds per game and has earned 22 dimes on the year, which is 227th in the nation in terms of passing the ball. When they are on defense, the Grizzlies are able to force 12.5 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 21.5 fouls. They currently rank 87th in college basketball in allowing assists to the opposition with 24 surrendered so far this year. The Grizzlies are allowing an opponent shooting percentage of 41.1% (39 of 95) and they concede 39.5 boards per contest as a unit. They are surrendering 34.3% from 3-point land while they are 153rd in Division 1 in PPG allowed (70.0).

The Montana Grizzlies faced the Southern Utah Thunderbirds and took a loss by a final of 64-63 in their last game. Montana ended with a 49.0% field goal percentage (24 out of 49) and made 6 out of their 16 3-pointers. From the charity stripe, the Grizzlies knocked down 9 of their 17 shots for a percentage of 52.9%. Pertaining to rebounding, they collected a total of 31 with 4 of them being on the offensive end. They also doled out 14 assists for the contest while having 5 steals and 2 blocked shots. In regard to the defense, Montana allowed the other team to shoot 49.0% from the floor on 24 of 49. Southern Utah recorded 7 assists and 6 steals in this matchup. Furthurmore, the Thunderbirds collected 34 rebounds (11 offensive, 23 defensive) and added 2 blocked shots. Southern Utah ended up going 65.0% from the charity stripe by making 26 of their 40 shots. They also converted 6 of 21 attempts from beyond the arc.

Michael Steadman is a guy who saw a lot of court time for the game. He ended up with 12 points on 6 of 9 shooting. He played for 17 minutes and also snagged 2 boards. Steadman ended up going 66.7% from the floor and totaled 2 dimes. One more player that had an impact in this game for the Grizzlies was Brandon Whitney. He snagged 2 rebounds and also earned 2 assists. He finished the game shooting 40.0% from the floor for the contest via 2-of-5 (6 points). At the conclusion of this game, Whitney was on the court for 21 minutes.

Southern Utah has a win-loss mark of 2-1 for the campaign. Southern Utah has scored 242 pts for the year (80.7 per contest) and they collect 34 boards per game. The Thunderbirds commit 18.3 fouls every game while shooting 68.1% from the charity stripe. When it comes to offensive execution, the Thunderbirds are hitting on 47.7% from the field, which is ranked 146th in the nation. They are getting an assist 15.3 times per contest (98th in Division 1) and they cough up possession 12.3 times per game. The Thunderbirds on the defensive side of the court are 94th in college basketball in points per game surrendered with 65.0. The Southern Utah defense allows 33.3% on three-point shots (18 of 54) and their opposition makes 58.9% of their free throw attempts. They concede 12.7 dimes and 30.3 boards per contest, ranking them 150th and 38th in those defensive categories. They have forced 15.0 turnovers per game and have let teams shoot 43.6% from the floor (174th in college basketball).

In their last game, the Southern Utah Thunderbirds walked away with a victory by a final of 64-63 against the Montana Grizzlies. The Thunderbirds were able to corral 23 defensive boards and 11 offensive boards for a total of 34 in this matchup. They turned away 2 shots while recording 6 steals for the game. The Grizzlies committed 28 fouls in the matchup which took the Thunderbirds to the free throw line for 40 shots. They were able to knock down 26 of the free throw tries for a rate of 65.0%. Concerning 3-pointers, Southern Utah made 6 of their 21 attempts (28.6%). When all was said and done, the Thunderbirds finished the game shooting 16 for 49 from the floor which had them at 32.7%. The Thunderbirds allowed the Grizzlies to convert 24 out of their 49 tries from the floor which had them at 49.0% in this matchup. They finished 37.5% from beyond the perimeter by going 6 out of 16 and finished the contest at 9 out of 17 from the charity stripe (52.9%). With respect to rebounding, Southern Utah allowed Montana to pull down 31 in all (4 on the offensive glass).

John Knight ended up being a major contributor for the Thunderbirds for this contest. He made 5 out of 12 in the game giving him a field goal percentage of 41.7%, which earned him 21 points. Knight had 9 boards in his 39 mins played and earned 3 assists for the contest. One more player who saw a lot of court time for Southern Utah was Maizen Fausett. He notched 14 points in 35 minutes played via 5 of 9 shooting in the matchup. Fausett finished going 55.6% from the field in addition to contributing 2 assists and 5 boards.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Montana (-1)

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