Northern Arizona Lumberjacks vs Arizona Wildcats Prediction, 12/7/2020 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Northern Arizona Lumberjacks vs Arizona Wildcats

Date: Monday, December 7, 2020

Location: McKale Center in Tucson, AZ

TV: ESPN+

Odds/Point Spread: Northern Arizona (+20.5)

McKale Center is the venue where and the Arizona Wildcats (1-0) will take on the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (0-0) on Monday. The line on this contest has Arizona as 20.5-point favorites. The over/under opens at 140.5.

Northern Arizona comes into this contest after finishing with a win-loss mark of 16-14 last year. They lost possession by turning the ball over 11.5 times per game and as a group committed 16.0 fouls every game. As a squad, Northern Arizona collected 34.0 boards per game and racked up 396 dimes last season, which was 2nd in the country in terms of passing the rock. The Lumberjacks connected on 36.0% on 3-point shots (216 of 600) and 70.1% from the free throw line. They averaged 70.9 pts per game (184th in the country) while hitting 44.5% from the field. On defense, the Lumberjacks forced their opponents into 13.0 turnovers every game while drawing 16.7 personal fouls. They surrendered 35.6% on shots from distance and they were 137th in D-1 in PPG allowed (69.4). The Lumberjacks gave up a shooting percentage of 45.6% (764 of 1,674) and they surrendered 33.1 boards per game as a basketball team. They were 294th in college basketball in allowing assists to their opponents with 395 surrendered last season.

The Northern Arizona Lumberjacks faced the Idaho State Bengals and took a loss by a score of 64-62 in their last contest. Northern Arizona walked away from the contest with a 35.9% FG percentage (23 out of 64) and knocked down 4 of their 13 shots from downtown. At the charity stripe, the Lumberjacks made 12 of their 14 attempts for a percentage of 85.7%. In reference to hauling in boards, they earned a total of 36 with 8 of them being offensive. They also recorded 8 assists for the matchup in addition to getting 5 steals and 2 blocks. In relation to the defense, Northern Arizona allowed the other team to shoot 35.9% from the field on 23 out of 64. Idaho State doled out 12 assists and 2 steals for the matchup. Moreover, the Bengals grabbed 37 rebounds (7 offensive, 30 defensive) and had 2 blocked shots. Idaho State finished the contest at 57.1% from the charity stripe by burying 4 of 7 tries. They made 8 of 17 attempts from three-point range.

Cameron Shelton is one guy who played a role for the contest. He was able to score 13 points on 3 out of 14 shooting. He was on the court for 40 minutes and also grabbed 8 boards. Shelton walked away from this one shooting 21.4% from the field and totaled 2 assists. Another guy that played big minutes in this matchup for the Lumberjacks was Brooks DeBisschop. He grabbed 11 rebounds and also collected 3 dimes. He shot 57.1% from the floor in this contest by shooting 8-of-14 (17 points). When the game finished, DeBisschop saw the court for 37 minutes.

Arizona has a mark of 1-0 this year. Arizona has totaled 74 points on the campaign and they pull in 46 boards per contest. The Wildcats commit 21 fouls per contest while shooting 72.4% from the free throw line. As an offense, the Wildcats are hitting on 38.3% from the floor, which is 317th in college hoops. They are assisting teammates 17 times per contest (60th in D-1) and they are giving up possession 15 times per contest. The Wildcats on the defensive end are ranked 16th in the nation in PPG allowed with 55. They give up 11 dimes and 37 boards every game, which is ranked 94th and 179th in college basketball. The Arizona defense concedes 13.6% on shots from beyond the perimeter (3 of 22) and opponents are making 73.7% of their foul shots. They are forcing 17 turnovers per game and have let teams shoot 32.8% from the field (10th in college basketball).

The last time they took the court, the Arizona Wildcats got the victory with a final of 74-55 when they played the Grambling Tigers. The Wildcats pulled down 30 defensive rebounds and 11 offensive rebounds totaling 41 in the matchup. They also rejected 3 tries while recording 7 steals in this matchup. The Tigers had 24 fouls in the matchup which took the Wildcats to the free throw line for a total of 29 tries. They were able to knock down 21 of the free throws for a rate of 72.4%. In reference to 3-point shots, Arizona buried 7 out of 25 attempts (28.0%). Overall, the Wildcats shot 23 out of 60 from the floor which gave them a rate of 38.3%. The Wildcats permitted the Tigers to make 19 of their 58 tries from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 32.8% in this contest. They finished 13.6% from behind the 3-point line by shooting 3 of 22 and ended up shooting 14 of 19 from the charity stripe (73.7%). Regarding cleaning the glass, Arizona allowed Grambling to snag 32 in all (7 on the offensive side).

James Akinjo ended up having an impact for the Wildcats for this game. He made 6 of 14 for the matchup for a rate of 42.9%, which earned him 19 points. Akinjo totaled 2 boards in his 38 minutes and totaled 3 assists in this contest. One more player who saw a lot of court time for Arizona was Jordan Brown. He was able to score 19 points in 33 minutes played via 8 out of 10 from the floor for the contest. Brown finished going 80.0% from the floor in addition to contributing 2 assists and 15 rebounds.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Arizona (-20.5)

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