Valparaiso Crusaders vs Central Michigan Chippewas Prediction, 12/12/2020 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Valparaiso Crusaders vs Central Michigan Chippewas

Date: Saturday, December 12, 2020

Location: McGuirk Arena in Mount Pleasant, MI

TV: ESPN3

Odds/Point Spread: Valparaiso (-3)

McGuirk Arena is the venue where and the Central Michigan Chippewas (1-3) will take on the Valparaiso Crusaders (2-3) on Saturday. The line on this game has Valparaiso as 3-point favorites. The O/U opens at 149.

Valparaiso comes into this matchup with a record of 2-3 for the campaign. The Crusaders are shooting 28.0% on 3-point shots (37 of 132) and 70.9% from the free throw line. They are averaging 69.4 points per outing (213th in the nation) while going 43.5% from the field. They are losing possession via turnover 14.6 times per contest and as a squad are committing 20.6 personal fouls per game. As a team, Valparaiso is collecting 34.8 boards per contest and has totaled 74 dimes so far this season, which is 70th in D-1 in terms of passing the rock. Defensively, the Crusaders are able to force 17.4 turnovers per game while drawing 17.6 personal fouls. They currently rank 252nd in college basketball in allowing assists to their opponents with 68 conceded on the campaign. The Crusaders are allowing a FG percentage of 39.6% (109 of 275) and they concede 36.2 rebounds per game as a team. They surrender 26.6% on 3-point shots while they are 66th in college hoops in PPG allowed (62.8).

The Valparaiso Crusaders faced off with the SIU Edwardsville Cougars and earned the victory with a final of 80-58 in their last game. Valparaiso walked away from the game with a 47.5% FG percentage (29 out of 61) and converted 7 of their 25 shots from beyond the perimeter. From the free throw line, the Crusaders made 15 of 19 attempts for a percentage of 78.9%. When it comes to pulling down boards, they earned 33 with 10 of them being offensive. They also distributed 16 assists for the matchup while earning 16 steals and 3 rejections. When discussing defending, Valparaiso allowed 47.5% from the floor on 29 out of 61. SIU Edwardsville earned 11 dimes and 8 steals in the matchup. Additionally, the Cougars pulled down 27 rebounds (7 offensive, 20 defensive) and earned 3 blocked shots. SIU Edwardsville finished shooting 46.2% from the free throw line by knocking down 6 of their 13 tries. They also converted 2 out of their 17 tries from 3-point range.

Connor Barrett is someone who saw a lot of action in this game. He walked away with 9 points on 3 out of 8 shooting. He saw the court for 20 mins and also collected 2 rebounds. Barrett shot 37.5% from the floor and also recorded 2 assists. Someone else that saw a lot of action in this game for the Crusaders was Eron Gordon. He pulled down 2 boards and had 2 assists. He ended up going 66.7% from the floor for the matchup by going 4-of-6 (10 points). When the game finished, Gordon was on the court for 21 minutes.

Central Michigan has a win-loss mark of 1-3 on the season. On the offensive side of the court, the Chippewas are hitting on 42.8% from the field, which is ranked 244th in D-1. Central Michigan has totaled 300 points so far this year (75.0 per game) and they pull in 33.8 boards per game. Their rate of assisting teammates is at 11.0 times per contest (269th in the country) and they are giving up possession 13.5 times per game. The Chippewas are responsible for committing 17.8 personal fouls every game while shooting 64.0% from the free throw line. The Chippewas are ranked 287th in D-1 in points given up per game with 83.8. They are forcing 16.3 TO's every game and have let teams shoot 48.6% from the field (287th in college basketball). The Central Michigan defense concedes 38.6% on shots from distance (39 of 101) and opponents are knocking down 68.5% of their free throw shots. They give up 18.3 assists and 40.3 rebounds per game, which is ranked 293rd and 262nd in those defensive categories.

When they last stepped on the hardwood, the Central Michigan Chippewas took home the win by a final score of 79-73 when they faced the Western Illinois Leathernecks. The Chippewas collected 28 defensive rebounds and 6 offensive boards totaling 34 in the matchup. They also blocked 3 tries while recording 8 steals in this contest. The Leathernecks earned 18 fouls in this contest which took the Chippewas to the charity stripe for 12 shots. They were able to make 9 of the free throw tries for a rate of 75.0%. Pertaining to shooting from beyond the arc, Central Michigan buried 6 of their 14 attempts (42.9%). When this game wrapped up, the Chippewas finished 32 out of 63 from the floor which had them shooting 50.8%. The Chippewas allowed the Leathernecks to make 26 out of 59 attempts from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 44.1% for the contest. They finished 35.0% from downtown by hitting 7 of 20 and walked away from this one shooting 14 out of 26 at the free throw line (53.8%). With respect to how they rebounded, Central Michigan permitted Western Illinois to snag 33 in total (10 on the offensive side).

Devontae Lane ended up having an impact for the Chippewas in this matchup. He knocked down 5 of 13 for the contest for a rate of 38.5%, which gave him 14 points. Lane snagged 7 rebounds in his 34 minutes and accounted for 6 assists in this game. Someone else that ended up coming through for Central Michigan was Meikkel Murray. He totaled 12 points in 33 minutes on the hardwood via 6 of 9 from the floor in the matchup. Murray walked away from this one going 66.7% from the field while also totaling 2 assists and 8 rebounds.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Central Michigan (+3)

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