Virginia Cavaliers vs Louisville Cardinals Prediction, 3/6/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Virginia Cavaliers vs Louisville Cardinals

Date: Saturday, March 6, 2021

Location: KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, KY

TV: ESPN2

Odds/Point Spread: Virginia (-1.5)

KFC Yum! Center is the site where and the Louisville Cardinals (13-5) will take on the Virginia Cavaliers (16-6) on Saturday. Virginia opens this game as 1.5-point favorites. The total opens at 122.5.

Virginia will enter this game with a win-loss record of 16-6 on the campaign. The Cavaliers are connecting on 39.2% on three-point attempts (190 of 485) and 80.4% from the free throw line. They are averaging 68.5 points per outing (255th in Division 1) while connecting on 48.0% from the field. They are turning it over 9.5 times per contest and as a squad they are committing 12.9 personal fouls per game. As a unit, Virginia is pulling down 31.6 boards per game and has earned 308 dimes this year, which ranks 137th in the nation in terms of passing. On the defensive end, the Cavaliers are forcing 9.7 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 12.5 fouls. The Cavaliers defensively are giving up a shooting percentage of 41.8% (484 of 1,158) and they surrender 29.1 rebounds per game as a team. They are currently ranked 125th in D-1 in allowing assists to the opposition with 255 surrendered this year. They relinquish 33.8% on 3-point shots while they are 5th in college basketball in points per game from their opponents (60.2).

The Virginia Cavaliers faced off with the Miami Hurricanes and took home the win by a score of 62-51 in their last contest. Virginia ended with a 40.4% field goal percentage (23 out of 57) and buried 8 out of their 22 shots from beyond the perimeter. From the free throw line, the Cavaliers converted 8 of 9 shots for a rate of 88.9%. Pertaining to rebounding, they collected 33 with 6 of them being offensive. They also distributed 13 assists for the game as well as creating 11 turnovers and earning 9 steals. When discussing defending, Virginia let their opponent shoot 38.5% from the field on 20 of 52 shooting. Miami recorded 5 assists and had 5 steals for the contest. Moreover, Miami snagged 28 rebounds (3 offensive, 25 defensive) and had 4 rejections. Miami walked away from this one shooting 87.5% at the charity stripe by burying 7 of their 8 attempts. They buried 4 out of their 15 tries from distance.

Sam Hauser is someone who was a major contributor for the matchup. He was able to score 18 points on 7 out of 13 shooting. He played for 32 mins played and also collected 6 rebounds. Hauser finished the game shooting 53.8% from the field and distributed 1 assist. An additional guy that was a major contributor in the matchup for the Cavaliers was Trey Murphy. He collected 6 rebounds in 29 minutes played. He went 33.3% from the floor for the contest by going 3-of-9 (12 points). When the game finished, Murphy collected 2 assists.

Louisville has a win-loss record of 13-5 on the season. Louisville has scored 1,245 pts so far this season (69.2 per game) and they pull down 38.6 rebounds per game. The Cardinals are committing 17.3 personal fouls per game and they hit 72.0% from the charity stripe. When it comes to offense, the Cardinals are shooting 44.2% from the field, which is 188th in the nation. Their rate of earning assists is at 11.4 times per game (297th in college hoops) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 12.1 times per contest. The Cardinals are ranked 66th in the nation in points given up per game with 66.2. They are forcing 11.4 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 41.6% from the floor (89th in college hoops). The Louisville defense surrenders 30.5% on shots from distance (132 of 433) and their opposition knocks down 65.4% of their free throw shots. They concede 12.2 assists and 32.9 rebounds per contest, which is 108th and 88th in the country.

When they last stepped on the court, the Louisville Cardinals went home victorious with a score of 80-73 against the Duke Blue Devils. The Cardinals snagged 25 defensive boards and 14 offensive rebounds for a total of 39 in the matchup. They also coughed it up 12 times, while getting 6 steals in the game. The Blue Devils had 20 fouls for this contest which got the Cardinals to the free throw line for 24 tries. They were able to make 16 of the free throw tries for a percentage of 66.7%. With regard to 3-point shots, Louisville made 4 of 12 attempts (33.3%). When the final whistle was blown, the Cardinals shot 30 out of 66 from the field which gave them a percentage of 45.5%. The Cardinals allowed the Blue Devils to convert 26 of their 58 attempts from the field which gave them a percentage of 44.8% in the matchup. They shot 19.0% from 3-point land by connecting on 4 of 21 and ended up going 17 out of 23 from the free throw line (73.9%). With respect to cleaning up the glass, Louisville permitted Duke to pull down 30 in total (6 on the offensive glass).

Carlik Jones ended up being a major contributor for the Cardinals in this game. He buried 9 of 18 in this contest for a field goal percentage of 50.0%, and tallied 6 rebounds. Jones tallied 25 points in his 44 mins on the court and had 4 assists in this contest. One more player who came through for Louisville was Jae'lyn Withers. He accumulated no assists in 36 minutes on the hardwood, and he shot 6 out of 10 from the floor. Withers finished going 60.0% from the floor while also collecting 16 points and 9 rebounds.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Virginia (-1.5)

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