Xavier Musketeers vs Cincinnati Bearcats Prediction, 12/6/2020 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Xavier Musketeers vs Cincinnati Bearcats

Date: Sunday, December 6, 2020

Location: Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati, OH

TV: ESPN

Odds/Point Spread: Xavier (+2.5)

Fifth Third Arena is the venue where and the Cincinnati Bearcats (1-0) will play the Xavier Musketeers (5-0) on Sunday. Cincinnati opens this contest as 2.5-point favorites. The over/under opens at 136.

Xavier steps onto the hardwood with a mark of 5-0 on the year. The Musketeers are connecting on 33.9% on shots from beyond the arc (37 of 109) and 70.4% from the charity stripe. They are averaging 81.2 points per outing (71st in the country) while going 49.7% from the field. They are giving up possession 12.4 times per game and as a unit they commit 14.2 personal fouls per contest. As a unit, Xavier is pulling down 42.8 rebounds per game and has accounted for 103 dimes this season, which ranks 2nd in Division 1 in terms of passing the ball. When they are on defense, the Musketeers have forced 13.2 turnovers per contest and they draw 15.8 fouls. They rank 255th in D-1 in allowing assists to the opposition with 57 surrendered for the season. The Musketeers are allowing a FG percentage of 33.2% (113 of 340) and they concede 38.0 rebounds per contest as a team. They give up 31.7% on 3-pointers and they rank 73rd in college basketball in points per game allowed (63.2).

The Xavier Musketeers stepped onto the hardwood against the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles and earned the victory with a final of 79-48 in their last game. Xavier ended with a 51.8% FG percentage (29 of 56) and knocked down 7 of their 15 three-point shots. At the charity stripe, the Musketeers buried 14 of 20 shots for a percentage of 70.0%. With regard to grabbing rebounds, they compiled 36 with 9 of them being of the offensive variety. They also doled out 19 dimes for the contest as well as earning 10 steals and 10 blocks. With regard to defense, Xavier allowed 51.8% from the floor on 29 out of 56. Tennessee Tech distributed 10 assists and 4 steals in the game. Furthurmore, the Golden Eagles grabbed 33 rebounds (12 offensive, 21 defensive) and earned 10 blocks. Tennessee Tech shot 66.7% at the charity stripe by burying 6 of their 9 attempts. They converted 4 out of their 16 tries from long range.

Nate Johnson is one guy who saw a lot of minutes in the matchup. He ended up scoring 16 points on 4 of 7 shooting. He played 33 mins and grabbed 2 rebounds. Johnson finished shooting 57.1% from the field and totaled 2 assists. One more player that saw a lot of action in this game for the Musketeers was Paul Scruggs. He grabbed 4 rebounds and also earned 9 assists. He finished the game shooting 55.6% from the field for the game by shooting 5-of-9 (14 points). When the game finished, Scruggs was on the hardwood for 29 min.

Cincinnati has a record of 1-0 for the year. The Bearcats commit 16 fouls per game and they go 53.8% from the charity stripe. They are assisting teammates 15 times per contest (108th in college basketball) and they cough up possession 12 times per game. Cincinnati has accounted for 67 pts on the year and they snag 35 boards per game. When it comes to executing on offense, the Bearcats are shooting 45.2% from the floor, which ranks them 186th in D-1. The Bearcats defensively are ranked 19th in college basketball in points per game surrendered with 55. They have given up 14 assists and 28 rebounds on a nightly basis, which has them ranked 198th and 19th in those categories on the defensive end. The Cincinnati defense allows 33.3% on three-point shots (3 of 9) and their opponents are converting on 76.2% of their shots from the charity stripe. They are able to force 19 TO's every game and have allowed teams to shoot 43.9% from the field (189th in the country).

For their last game, the Cincinnati Bearcats got the victory with a final of 67-55 against the Lipscomb Bisons. The Bearcats were able to collect 21 defensive boards and 11 offensive boards totaling 32 for the matchup. They blocked 5 shots while getting 5 steals in the matchup. The Bisons had 17 personal fouls for the matchup which got the Bearcats to the free throw line for a total of 13 attempts. They were able to make 7 of those for a rate of 53.8%. In terms of shooting from beyond the arc, Cincinnati buried 4 out of their 22 tries (18.2%). When this game wrapped up, the Bearcats ended up going 28 out of 62 from the field which had them shooting 45.2%. The Bearcats allowed the Bisons to knock down 18 out of their 41 attempts from the floor which had them at 43.9% for the contest. They finished the game shooting 33.3% from 3-point land via 3 out of 9 and ended up going 16 out of 21 at the free throw line (76.2%). In the matter of cleaning up the glass, Cincinnati permitted Lipscomb to snag 26 in all (2 on the offensive side).

Chris Vogt was pivotal for the Bearcats for this game. He converted 6 out of 7 in this game for a field goal percentage of 85.7%, which got him 12 points. Vogt snagged 7 boards in his 32 minutes played and earned 2 assists in the matchup. One more player who saw a lot of minutes for Cincinnati was Mika Adams-Woods. He ended up walking away with 16 points in 33 minutes played by way of 6 of 14 from the floor in this matchup. Adams-Woods walked away from this one going 42.9% from the field in addition to totaling 2 assists and 3 total rebounds.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Cincinnati (-2.5)

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