Murray State Racers vs Southern Illinois Salukis Prediction, 12/11/2020 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Murray State Racers vs Southern Illinois Salukis

Date: Friday, December 11, 2020

Location: Banterra Center in Carbondale, IL

TV: ESPN3

Odds/Point Spread: Murray State (-4.5)

Banterra Center is the venue where and the Southern Illinois Salukis (2-0) will take on the Murray State Racers (3-1) on Friday. Murray State opens this game as 4.5-point favorites. The O/U opens at 135.5.

Murray State enters this game with a record of 3-1 for the season. They cough up possession 17.0 times per contest and as a team they commit 17.8 fouls on a nightly basis. As a unit, Murray State is collecting 48.5 rebounds per game and has totaled 87 dimes for the campaign, which has them ranked 32nd in college basketball in terms of passing the ball. The Racers are connecting on 35.7% on shots beyond the perimeter (25 of 70) and 76.7% from the charity stripe. They are averaging 99.3 points per outing (4th in the country) while going 58.8% from the field. Defensively, the Racers are able to force 14.8 turnovers per game while drawing 16.0 personal fouls. The Racers defense is allowing a FG percentage of 36.7% (106 of 289) and they surrender 31.8 rebounds per game as a group. They are ranked 132nd in college hoops in giving up assists with 44 surrendered this year. They are conceding 27.4% on shots from distance while they are 213th in D-1 in PPG allowed (73.8).

The Murray State Racers took the court against the Austin Peay Governors and went home with a win by a final score of 87-57 in their last game. Murray State wrapped up the contest having earned a 59.6% field goal percentage (34 of 57) and converted 8 of their 20 3-point shots. From the free throw line, the Racers knocked down 11 of their 15 attempts for a percentage of 73.3%. Pertaining to hauling in boards, they earned 33 with 10 of them being on the offensive end. They also dished out 11 assists for the game while earning 7 steals and 4 blocked shots. In terms of defending, Murray State let their opponent shoot 59.6% from the floor on 34 out of 57. Austin Peay distributed 4 dimes and 2 steals in the matchup. On top of that, the Governors totaled 22 boards (10 offensive, 12 defensive) and earned 4 blocks. Austin Peay went 69.2% from the charity stripe by burying 9 of 13 tries. They also made 6 out of their 19 tries from three-point range.

Tevin Brown is someone who was a major contributor in the game. He finished with 19 points on 7 of 16 shooting. He played 33 mins and also grabbed 4 rebounds. Brown went 43.8% from the floor and also recorded 2 assists. One more player that was a factor in the matchup for the Racers was KJ Williams. He had 7 rebounds and also totaled 2 assists. He finished the contest at 100.0% from the floor for the game by shooting 6-of-6 (16 points). When this game wrapped up, Williams was on the hardwood for 29 min.

Southern Illinois has a mark of 2-0 on the year. The Salukis have committed 16.0 personal fouls every game and they shoot 78.4% from the free throw line. They are getting an assist 18.0 times per contest (38th in the country) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 7.5 times per game. Southern Illinois has earned 189 pts so far this year (94.5 per contest) and they grab 41.0 rebounds per game. On the offensive side of the ball, the Salukis are connecting on 50.0% from the field, which is 84th in the country. The Salukis are ranked 159th in the country in points given up per game with 70.0. They give up 16.5 assists and 40.0 total rebounds per game, which is 272nd and 258th in those categories on the defensive end. The Southern Illinois defense concedes 28.3% from downtown (13 of 46) and their opposition knocks down 59.4% of their shots from the charity stripe. They are able to force 13.5 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 40.0% from the field (102nd in college hoops).

When they last stepped on the court, the Southern Illinois Salukis took home the win by a final score of 102-61 when they faced the Quincy University Hawks. The Salukis earned 34 defensive boards and 9 offensive boards for a total of 43 in this matchup. They rejected 2 tries while getting 7 steals for the matchup. The Hawks committed 15 personal fouls for the matchup which took the Salukis to the charity stripe for a total of 16 shots. They were able to knock down 12 of those for a percentage of 75.0%. When discussing shots from downtown, Southern Illinois made 10 of 23 tries (43.5%). Overall, the Salukis shot 40 for 72 from the field which gave them a percentage of 55.6%. The Salukis permitted the Hawks to make 23 out of their 61 attempts from the field which left them with a shooting percentage of 37.7% in this contest. They finished the game shooting 25.9% from three-point range by going 7 out of 27 and walked away from this one shooting 8 out of 11 at the charity stripe (72.7%). When discussing how they attacked the glass, Southern Illinois permitted Quincy to collect 27 overall (3 offensive).

Marcus Domask ended up playing a lot for the Salukis for the contest. He buried 7 of 12 in the game for a field goal percentage of 58.3%, which earned him 18 points. Domask pulled down 9 rebounds in his 25 mins and totaled 3 dimes for this game. An additional guy who saw a lot of court time for Southern Illinois was Lance Jones. He walked away with 11 points in his 24 minutes on the hardwood via 3 out of 7 from the floor in this matchup. Jones ended the game having shot 42.9% from the field in addition to collecting 2 assists and 2 rebounds.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Southern Illinois (+4.5)

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