South Carolina Gamecocks vs Houston Cougars Prediction, 12/5/2020 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: South Carolina Gamecocks vs Houston Cougars

Date: Saturday, December 5, 2020

Location: Fertitta Center in Houston, TX

TV: ESPN+

Odds/Point Spread: South Carolina (+9.5)

Fertitta Center is the site where and the Houston Cougars (3-0) will take on the South Carolina Gamecocks (1-1) on Saturday. The line on this game has Houston as 9.5-point favorites. The over/under has been set at 141.

South Carolina enters this matchup with a win-loss record of 1-1 for the season. They are averaging 65.5 points per game (222nd in Division 1) while hitting 43.4% from the field. The Gamecocks are shooting 30.0% on shots beyond the perimeter (12 of 40) and 65.6% from the charity stripe. As a unit, South Carolina is grabbing 32.5 rebounds per game and is sitting with 20 assists on the campaign, which ranks 235th in D-1 in terms of passing the ball. They turn it over 18.5 times per contest and as a unit they commit 16.5 personal fouls per game. On the defensive end, the Gamecocks are able to force 19.0 turnovers per contest and they draw 14.5 fouls. They are giving up 34.9% from beyond the arc and they rank 124th in college basketball in PPG allowed (68.0). The Gamecocks defensively are giving up a FG percentage of 48.0% (48 of 100) and they concede 28.0 boards per game as a squad. They are ranked 101st in D-1 in giving up assists to their opponents with 26 conceded on the campaign.

The South Carolina Gamecocks faced the Tulsa Golden Hurricane and earned the victory with a final of 69-58 in their last game. South Carolina ended the contest with a 48.1% FG percentage (26 out of 54) and made 9 out of their 23 three-point shots. From the charity stripe, the Gamecocks converted 8 of their 13 shots for a rate of 61.5%. When discussing hauling in boards, they collected 31 with 7 of them being of the offensive variety. They also dished out 13 dimes in the matchup in addition to earning 13 steals and 2 rejections. With respect to defending, South Carolina allowed the other team to go 48.1% from the field on 26 of 54. Tulsa earned 10 assists and 8 steals for the game. In addition, the Golden Hurricane snagged 26 rebounds (7 offensive, 19 defensive) and added 2 rejections. Tulsa finished the contest at 60.0% from the free throw line by making 12 of their 20 attempts. They knocked down 4 of their 17 shots from beyond the arc.

Justin Minaya is a guy who was a major contributor for the game. He left the arena with 11 points on 5 of 10 shooting. He played 32 mins and pulled down 9 rebounds. Minaya finished 50.0% from the floor and also totaled 2 assists. An additional guy that saw a lot of action in the game for the Gamecocks was Jermaine Couisnard. He collected 2 boards and accounted for 4 assists. He finished 46.7% from the field for this game by going 7-of-15 (20 points). When the game finished, Couisnard saw the court for 31 minutes.

Houston has a record of 3-0 on the campaign. Houston has scored 221 points for the year (73.7 per game) and they collect 44.7 rebounds per game. The Cougars commit 22.0 fouls every game and they shoot 79.7% from the charity stripe. As an offense, the Cougars are hitting on 39.4% from the field, which is ranked 297th in Division 1. They are earning an assist 9.3 times per contest (258th in college hoops) and they are losing possession via turnover 13.3 times per game. The Cougars on the defensive end are ranked 9th in college basketball in points allowed per game with 52.0. They are forcing 17.7 TO's per game and have let teams shoot 36.7% from the field (48th in college basketball). The Houston defense gives up 12.8% on shots from beyond the arc (6 of 47) and their opponents are knocking down 58.3% of their foul shots. They surrender 8.7 assists and 30.3 rebounds on a nightly basis, which has them ranked 35th and 37th in those categories on the defensive end.

When they last played, the Houston Cougars walked away with a victory by a final of 64-53 against the Texas Tech Red Raiders. The Cougars corralled 22 defensive boards and 13 offensive rebounds for a total of 35 for the matchup. They stuffed 4 attempts while recording 11 steals in the matchup. The Red Raiders earned 22 fouls for the matchup which took the Cougars to the charity stripe for a total of 21 tries. They were able to make 16 of them for a percentage of 76.2%. In terms of three-point attempts, Houston buried 8 of their 24 tries (33.3%). Overall, the Cougars went 20 for 57 from the field which had them shooting 35.1%. The Cougars permitted the Red Raiders to make 18 out of their 46 tries from the floor which gave them a percentage of 39.1% for this game. They went 22.2% from beyond the arc by going 4 of 18 and ended up shooting 13 out of 24 at the free throw line (54.2%). In reference to how they cleaned up the glass, Houston permitted Texas Tech to get 28 in total (8 offensive).

Quentin Grimes played big minutes for the Cougars for this contest. He converted 5 of 18 in this game giving him a rate of 27.8%, which had him finishing with 15 points. Grimes pulled down 7 rebounds in his 38 mins and added 2 assists for the game. Someone else that ended being a contributor for Houston was Marcus Sasser. He ended up walking away with 17 points in 34 minutes played by way of 5 of 15 shooting in this game. Sasser walked away from this one going 33.3% from the floor in addition to contributing 2 dimes and 3 boards.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take South Carolina (+9.5)

Get $60 worth of FREE premium member picks. No Obligation. No Salesman. No Credit Card. Fast Sign up with Instant Access Click Here