Northern Colorado Bears vs Denver Pioneers Prediction, 12/16/2020 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Northern Colorado Bears vs Denver Pioneers

Date: Wednesday, December 16, 2020

Location: Hamilton Gymnasium in Denver, CO

TV: ESPN+

Odds/Point Spread: Northern Colorado (-6)

The Denver Pioneers (1-3) play the Northern Colorado Bears (2-1) at Hamilton Gymnasium on Wednesday. The odds on this contest have Northern Colorado as 6-point favorites. The over/under is set at 142.5.

Northern Colorado will enter this matchup with a record of 2-1 for the season. The Bears are shooting 35.3% on shots from distance (24 of 68) and 58.1% from the charity stripe. They average 71.7 points per contest (200th in Division 1) while going 46.9% from the field. They turn it over 15.0 times per contest and as a unit are committing 16.0 personal fouls every game. As a unit, Northern Colorado is grabbing 38.7 boards per contest and has 37 dimes this year, which ranks 275th in college basketball in terms of passing. On the defensive end, the Bears have forced 10.7 turnovers per contest and they draw 14.7 fouls. The Bears defense is allowing a shooting percentage of 43.3% (78 of 180) and they relinquish 30.0 rebounds per contest as a squad. They are 38th in college basketball in giving up assists to the opposition with 32 relinquished this year. They are conceding 31.3% on shots from beyond the arc and they are ranked 127th in Division 1 in PPG allowed (67.0).

The Northern Colorado Bears played the Colorado Buffaloes and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 81-45 in their last contest. Northern Colorado ended the game with a 28.8% field goal percentage (15 of 52) and made 6 of their 18 three-point attempts. At the charity stripe, the Bears made 9 of their 12 shots for a rate of 75.0%. Concerning rebounding, they earned 26 with 7 of them being of the offensive sort. They also doled out 6 dimes in this matchup while earning 3 steals and 2 blocks. In the matter of the defense, Northern Colorado allowed the other team to go 28.8% from the field on 15 out of 52. Colorado earned 16 assists and 10 steals for the matchup. Additionally, the Buffaloes had 35 rebounds (7 offensive, 28 defensive) and had 2 blocks. Colorado finished 73.3% from the free throw line by knocking down 11 of 15 tries. They buried 6 out of their 13 attempts from distance.

Matt Johnson is a player who saw a lot of action for the matchup. He had 7 points on 2 of 5 shooting. He played for 32 mins and grabbed 2 rebounds. Johnson finished the game at 40.0% from the field and distributed 2 dimes. An additional guy that saw a lot of action in this contest for the Bears was Bodie Hume. He snagged 5 boards and had 2 assists. He went 33.3% from the floor in this game by connecting on 4-of-12 (11 points). Overall, Hume was on the hardwood for 26 minutes.

Denver has a record of 1-3 for the season. Denver has totaled 276 pts for the campaign (69.0 per contest) and they collect 35.8 rebounds per game. The Pioneers have committed 16.8 fouls per game and they shoot 77.8% from the charity stripe. As an offensive team, the Pioneers are shooting 45.5% from the field, which ranks them 169th in college basketball. They are dishing out assists 12.0 times per contest (254th in D-1) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 16.3 times per contest. The Pioneers on defense are ranked 254th in college basketball in PPG given up with 76.3. They allow 14.0 assists and 32.5 rebounds on a nightly basis, which is ranked 222nd and 88th in college hoops. The Denver defense allows 35.2% on 3-point shots (44 of 125) and their opponents are connecting on 62.0% of their free throw shots. They have forced 11.5 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 45.1% from the field (249th in college basketball).

For their last game, the Denver Pioneers took a defeat with a final score of 73-70 against the Dixie State Trailblazers. The Pioneers were able to pull down 33 defensive boards and 4 offensive boards totaling 37 for this game. They turned away 3 attempts while getting 5 steals in the matchup. The Trailblazers earned 20 personal fouls in the matchup which got the Pioneers to the charity stripe for a total of 22 attempts. They were able to bury 20 of the free throw attempts for a clip of 90.9%. Concerning shots from 3-point land, Denver knocked down 4 out of 15 tries (26.7%). When all was said and done, the Pioneers finished the game shooting 23 for 49 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 46.9%. The Pioneers permitted the Trailblazers to knock down 25 out of 59 tries from the floor which had them shooting 42.4% in this contest. They finished shooting 37.0% from behind the 3-point line by shooting 10 out of 27 and ended up shooting 13 of 21 at the charity stripe (61.9%). Concerning how they rebounded, Denver permitted Dixie State to collect 24 in all (4 offensive).

Jase Townsend pitched in for the Pioneers in this contest. He converted 6 of 16 in this matchup giving him a field goal percentage of 37.5%, which gave him 21 points. Townsend snagged 9 rebounds in his 36 minutes and tallied 4 assists for the game. Another guy that ended up coming through for Denver was Robert Jones. He ended up walking away with 13 points in his 27 minutes played via 5 out of 8 shooting in the game. Jones walked away from this one going 62.5% from the field as well as collecting 2 assists and 4 rebounds.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Northern Colorado (-6)

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