Minnesota Golden Gophers vs Nebraska Cornhuskers Prediction, 2/27/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Minnesota Golden Gophers vs Nebraska Cornhuskers

Date: Saturday, February 27, 2021

Location: Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, NE

TV: ESPN+

Odds/Point Spread: Minnesota (-2.5)

The Nebraska Cornhuskers (5-17) host the Minnesota Golden Gophers (13-11) at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Saturday. Nebraska opens this matchup as 2.5-point dogs. The O/U has been set at 146.

Minnesota enters this game with a record of 13-11 so far this year. The Golden Gophers are shooting 29.0% on shots from 3-point land (175 of 604) and 75.2% from the charity stripe. They currently have an average of 73.7 pts per game (121st in the nation) while hitting 40.2% from the field. They turn it over 11.1 times per contest and as a unit they are committing 18.7 personal fouls per contest. As a team, Minnesota is snagging 36.2 rebounds per game and has accounted for 345 assists on the season, which ranks 39th in the country in terms of passing the ball. Defensively, the Golden Gophers have forced 13.6 turnovers per game while drawing 19.7 personal fouls. They surrender 34.4% on 3-pointers while they are 255th in D-1 in PPG allowed (73.3). The Golden Gophers defensively are giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 44.0% (625 of 1,421) and they relinquish 39.6 rebounds per game as a unit. They currently rank 330th in college hoops in giving up assists to the opposition with 352 surrendered on the season.

The Minnesota Golden Gophers played the Northwestern Wildcats and went home with a loss by a final score of 67-59 in their last contest. Minnesota ended with a 37.1% field goal percentage (23 of 62) and made 4 of their 27 shots from beyond the arc. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Golden Gophers made 9 of their 10 shots for a percentage of 90.0%. When discussing grabbing boards, they earned 29 with 8 of them being of the offensive sort. They also distributed 14 assists for this contest as well as forcing 17 turnovers and having 12 steals. In terms of defense, Minnesota allowed 42.2% from the floor on 19 out of 45 shooting. Northwestern recorded 8 dimes and had 8 steals in the game. On top of that, Northwestern snagged 32 rebounds (8 offensive, 24 defensive) and had 1 block. Northwestern shot 81.5% from the charity stripe by burying 22 of 27 attempts. They buried 7 of 18 shots from distance.

Marcus Carr is someone who was a major contributor for this game. He ended up walking away with 21 points on 5 out of 17 shooting. He played 38 minutes and collected 3 rebounds. Carr went 29.4% from the floor and also totaled 7 dimes. An additional guy that was a major factor in this contest for the Golden Gophers was Jamal Mashburn. He pulled down 2 rebounds in 39 min on the court. He walked away from this one shooting 50.0% from the field in the game by connecting on 6-of-12 (13 points). When this game wrapped up, Mashburn totaled 3 assists.

Nebraska has a record of 5-17 on the campaign. Nebraska has accounted for 1,531 pts this season (69.6 per game) and they pull in 36.6 rebounds per contest. The Cornhuskers are responsible for committing 17.9 personal fouls per game and they hit 63.0% from the charity stripe. When it comes to executing on offense, the Cornhuskers are hitting on 41.2% from the field, which ranks 314th in college hoops. They are earning an assist 12.8 times per game (206th in college hoops) and they are turning it over 13.7 times per game. The Cornhuskers on the defensive side of the court are 268th in college basketball in points given up per game with 73.9. The Nebraska defense concedes 31.3% on shots from beyond the arc (195 of 623) and their opponents are knocking down 72.2% of their free throw attempts. They concede 14.3 assists and 40.5 total boards per game, which is 268th and 341st in those categories. They are forcing 13.7 TO's every game and allow teams to shoot 42.0% from the field (116th in college basketball).

In their last game, the Nebraska Cornhuskers took a loss by a final score of 86-70 when they played the Illinois Fighting Illini. The Cornhuskers pulled down 22 defensive rebounds and 3 offensive rebounds totaling 25 for this contest. They also coughed it up 16 times, while recording 4 steals for the matchup. The Fighting Illini were called for 19 fouls for this game which got the Cornhuskers to the charity stripe for 16 tries. They were able to convert 11 of the free throws for a rate of 68.8%. In regard to shots from downtown, Nebraska converted 5 of their 21 attempts (23.8%). When this game wrapped up, the Cornhuskers ended up shooting 27 out of 61 from the floor which had them sitting at 44.3%. The Cornhuskers permitted the Fighting Illini to knock down 30 out of 62 attempts from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 48.4% in this matchup. They went 17.4% from three-point range by going 4 of 23 and walked away from this one shooting 22 out of 29 from the charity stripe (75.9%). When talking about team rebounding, Nebraska allowed Illinois to collect 43 overall (12 on the offensive glass).

Trey McGowens pitched in for the Cornhuskers for this contest. He buried 7 out of 17 for the game for a field goal rate of 41.2%, and had 4 rebounds. McGowens recorded 18 points in his 26 minutes on the court and totaled 1 assist for this contest. An additional guy that was pivotal for Nebraska was Derrick Walker. He finished with 1 assist in his 18 minutes played, and he knocked down 3 of 5 from the floor. Walker finished going 60.0% from the field and also earning 7 points and 5 rebounds.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Minnesota (-2.5)

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