Ball State Cardinals vs Western Michigan Broncos Prediction, 12/22/2020 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Ball State Cardinals vs Western Michigan Broncos

Date: Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Location: University Arena in Kalamazoo, MI

TV: ESPN3

Odds/Point Spread: Ball State (-3.5)

University Arena is the venue where and the Western Michigan Broncos (2-4) will play the Ball State Cardinals (3-3) on Tuesday. The line on this matchup has Ball State as 3.5-point favorites. The total has been set at 132.5.

Ball State heads into this game with a win-loss mark of 3-3 for the season. They average 70.7 pts per contest (216th in the nation) on 41.0% from the floor. The Cardinals are shooting 28.3% on shots from downtown (39 of 138) and 65.1% from the charity stripe. As a team, Ball State is pulling in 36.3 rebounds per game and is sitting with 62 assists on the season, which is 236th in D-1 in terms of passing. They turn the ball over 12.3 times per game and as a group are committing 18.8 personal fouls every game. When they are on defense, the Cardinals are able to force 14.5 turnovers per contest while drawing 21.8 fouls. They are 137th in college hoops in allowing assists with 69 surrendered for the year. The Cardinals are giving up an opponent FG percentage of 43.9% (157 of 358) and they concede 39.5 boards per contest as a team. They relinquish 28.5% on shots from downtown while they are 196th in college hoops in PPG allowed (71.2).

The Ball State Cardinals faced off with the Indiana State Sycamores and took a loss by a final of 67-57 in their last contest. Ball State walked away from the game having earned a 36.2% FG percentage (21 of 58) and buried 5 out of their 20 three-point attempts. From the charity stripe, the Cardinals made 10 of their 16 attempts for a rate of 62.5%. In reference to grabbing rebounds, they earned 35 with 8 of them being of the offensive sort. They also doled out 6 dimes for the game in addition to getting 9 steals and 5 blocks. With respect to defense, Ball State allowed the other team to shoot 36.2% from the floor on 21 out of 58. Indiana State earned 11 dimes and 9 steals for the contest. Additionally, the Sycamores collected 35 rebounds (7 offensive, 28 defensive) and had 5 rejections. Indiana State finished the game shooting 75.0% at the charity stripe by burying 21 of their 28 tries. They made 4 out of their 18 tries from distance.

Ishmael El-Amin is one player who saw a lot of minutes in this contest. He left the arena with 18 points on 6 out of 19 shooting. He saw the court for 35 mins played and also pulled down 3 rebounds. El-Amin went 31.6% from the field and also earned 3 assists. Someone else that saw a lot of action in the matchup for the Cardinals was K.J. Walton. He had 6 rebounds and also accounted for 2 assists. He shot 55.6% from the floor for the contest by connecting on 5-of-9 (13 points). When the game finished, Walton played 30 min.

Western Michigan has a win-loss mark of 2-4 this season. When it comes to offense, the Broncos are shooting 44.1% from the field, which ranks them 209th in Division 1. Western Michigan has tallied 381 pts this season (63.5 per game) and they grab 35.5 boards per game. They are earning an assist 11.7 times per contest (271st in college hoops) and they turn it over 14.0 times per game. The Broncos have committed 16.7 fouls per contest while shooting 60.2% from the charity stripe. The Broncos on the defensive end are ranked 79th in the country in PPG allowed with 64.3. They have allowed 9.5 assists and 34.2 rebounds on a nightly basis, which is 26th and 138th in the nation. The Western Michigan defense allows 27.7% on shots from beyond the perimeter (36 of 130) and opponents are connecting on 72.7% of their shots from the charity stripe. They are forcing 11.0 turnovers on a nightly basis and have allowed teams to shoot 39.8% from the field (86th in the country).

When they last stepped on the court, the Western Michigan Broncos walked away with a victory by a final of 76-61 when they faced the Central Michigan Chippewas. The Broncos pulled down 29 defensive boards and 8 offensive rebounds totaling 37 in the game. They also blocked 5 shots while getting 2 steals for the matchup. The Chippewas had 17 personal fouls for this game which took the Broncos to the free throw line for a total of 11 tries. They were able to knock down 8 of those for a clip of 72.7%. In terms of 3-point shots, Western Michigan buried 8 of 18 attempts (44.4%). At the conclusion of this game, the Broncos shot 30 for 54 from the floor which gave them a rate of 55.6%. The Broncos permitted the Chippewas to convert 22 of their 63 tries from the floor which left them shooting 34.9% for the contest. They went 26.3% from 3-point land by connecting on 5 out of 19 and finished the game at 12 of 15 from the charity stripe (80.0%). Regarding cleaning the glass, Western Michigan allowed Central Michigan to collect 29 in total (14 offensive).

B. Artis White ended up having an impact for the Broncos in this matchup. He made 6 of 10 in the matchup for a field goal percentage of 60.0%, which got him 16 points. White pulled down 2 rebounds in his 31 mins played and had 2 assists in the matchup. One more player that ended up coming through for Western Michigan was Greg Lee. He notched 17 points in his 27 minutes on the hardwood by going 7 of 10 from the floor for the game. Lee walked away from this one going 70.0% from the field while totaling 4 assists and 11 rebounds.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Ball State (-3.5)

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