Radford Highlanders vs East Carolina Pirates Prediction, 12/5/2020 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Radford Highlanders vs East Carolina Pirates

Date: Saturday, December 5, 2020

Location: Minges Coliseum in Greenville, NC

TV: ESPN+

Odds/Point Spread: Radford (+13)

Minges Coliseum is the site where and the East Carolina Pirates (2-0) will take on the Radford Highlanders (0-3) on Saturday. East Carolina opens this matchup as 13-point favorites. The over/under has been set at 133.5.

Radford will enter this matchup with a record of 0-3 so far this year. They have an average of 58.3 points per outing (265th in the nation) while connecting on 37.5% from the floor. The Highlanders are shooting 28.3% on shots from beyond the arc (17 of 60) and 61.1% from the charity stripe. As a unit, Radford is snagging 38.3 rebounds per game and has accounted for 26 assists for the season, which has them ranked 203rd in the country in terms of passing. They are giving up possession 16.7 times per game and as a basketball team they are committing 16.0 fouls on a nightly basis. Defensively, the Highlanders are forcing 10.3 turnovers per contest while drawing 20.7 fouls. They are ranked 166th in college hoops in allowing assists to their opponents with 36 relinquished for the season. The Highlanders are allowing an opponent shooting percentage of 41.9% (70 of 167) and they surrender 31.7 boards per contest as a squad. They are giving up 41.5% on 3-point attempts and they are ranked 112th in the nation in opponents points per game (67.0).

The Radford Highlanders faced the James Madison Dukes and ended up losing by a score of 67-59 in their last game. Radford finished with a 40.0% field goal percentage (20 out of 50) and made 4 of their 18 shots from beyond the arc. From the charity stripe, the Highlanders made 15 of 26 tries for a rate of 57.7%. In the matter of grabbing rebounds, they collected 38 with 11 of them being of the offensive sort. They also recorded 9 assists for the game as well as earning 3 steals and 2 blocks. When it comes to defending, Radford allowed the other team to go 40.0% from the field on 20 out of 50. James Madison totaled 6 assists and 6 steals for the contest. In addition, the Dukes grabbed 27 rebounds (5 offensive, 22 defensive) and earned 2 rejections. James Madison ended up going 66.7% when shooting free throws by burying 16 of their 24 attempts. They also made 7 of their 21 attempts from beyond the arc.

Quinton Morton-Robertson is one guy who played a lot for the contest. He totaled 11 points on 4 out of 12 shooting. He played 30 mins and snagged 2 boards. Morton-Robertson finished the game at 33.3% from the floor and distributed 2 assists. An additional guy that saw the court a lot in this contest for the Highlanders was Lewis Djonkam. He collected 11 boards and had 2 dimes. He finished the game shooting 40.0% from the field in the matchup by hitting 4-of-10 (10 points). At the conclusion of this game, Djonkam played for 24 minutes.

East Carolina has a win-loss record of 2-0 on the season. The Pirates have committed 13.0 fouls every game and they go 68.8% from the free throw line. Their rate of assisting teammates is at 19.0 times per contest (32nd in college basketball) and they cough up possession 9.5 times per contest. East Carolina has tallied 157 pts so far this season (78.5 per game) and they pull in 33.5 boards per contest. As an offensive team, the Pirates are shooting 50.4% from the floor, which is 109th in the country. The Pirates defensively are ranked 45th in college basketball in points allowed per game with 59.5. The East Carolina defense surrenders 31.3% on shots from beyond the perimeter (10 of 32) and their opposition makes 72.4% of their free throw attempts. They surrender 11.0 assists and 30.5 boards every game, which ranks them 93rd and 40th in college basketball. They are able to force 16.5 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 43.1% from the floor (167th in college hoops).

When they last played, the East Carolina Pirates walked away with a victory by a final of 91-62 when they played the North Carolina Wesleyan Battling Bishops. The Pirates were able to corral 19 defensive rebounds and 11 offensive rebounds totaling 30 for the game. They also turned away 3 tries while earning 11 steals in this matchup. The Battling Bishops were called for 18 fouls for the contest which got the Pirates to the charity stripe for 22 attempts. They were able to bury 14 of those for a rate of 63.6%. When discussing shots from beyond the perimeter, East Carolina made 9 of 23 attempts (39.1%). When all was said and done, the Pirates finished the game shooting 34 for 66 from the field which gave them a percentage of 51.5%. The Pirates allowed the Battling Bishops to knock down 24 of their 49 attempts from the floor which gave them a percentage of 49.0% for the contest. They finished the game shooting 38.5% from downtown by connecting on 5 out of 13 and finished the game at 9 of 12 at the charity stripe (75.0%). In regard to how they cleaned up the glass, East Carolina permitted North Carolina Wesleyan to snag 25 in all (4 on the offensive glass).

Tristen Newton ended up being a factor for the Pirates for this game. He made 3 out of 10 in this contest for a field goal percentage of 30.0%, which earned him 11 points. Newton grabbed 8 boards in his 33 minutes played and earned 7 dimes for the contest. Someone else that was important for East Carolina was Jayden Gardner. He was able to score 27 points in his 28 minutes on the court via 11 out of 12 from the floor in this matchup. Gardner wrapped this one up going 91.7% from the field as well as totaling 2 assists and 4 boards.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take East Carolina (-13)

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