BYU Cougars vs San Diego State Aztecs Prediction, 12/18/2020 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: BYU Cougars vs San Diego State Aztecs

Date: Friday, December 18, 2020

Location: Viejas Arena in San Diego, CA

TV: CBSSN

Odds/Point Spread: BYU (+7.5)

Viejas Arena is the venue where and the San Diego State Aztecs (5-0) will take on the BYU Cougars (6-2) on Friday. BYU opens this contest as 7.5-point underdogs. The O/U opens at 135.5.

BYU heads into this contest with a win-loss mark of 6-2 on the season. The Cougars are hitting 37.4% on three-point attempts (80 of 214) and 66.1% from the free throw line. They are averaging 77.8 pts per game (102nd in the country) while hitting 47.3% from the floor. They are turning it over 15.0 times per game and as a squad are committing 18.8 fouls every game. As a team, BYU is snagging 39.9 rebounds per game and is sitting with 141 dimes for the season, which ranks 6th in the country in terms of passing the rock. When they are on defense, the Cougars are able to force 13.8 turnovers every game while drawing 19.6 fouls. They are currently ranked 285th in D-1 in giving up assists to the opposition with 95 conceded for the year. The Cougars are giving up a FG percentage of 40.1% (190 of 474) and they concede 34.6 boards per game as a basketball team. They are giving up 35.1% from 3-point land and they are ranked 117th in college hoops in PPG from their opponents (66.1).

The BYU Cougars faced the Utah Utes and went home with a win by a final score of 82-64 in their last game. BYU ended the contest having earned a 55.4% FG percentage (31 out of 56) and made 9 of their 23 three-point shots. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Cougars converted 11 of 12 shots for a percentage of 91.7%. In terms of hauling in boards, they earned 44 with 8 of them being of the offensive variety. They also dished out 21 assists for the matchup while getting 3 steals and 2 blocked shots. When discussing defense, BYU let their opponent shoot 55.4% from the floor on 31 out of 56. Utah earned 11 dimes and 11 steals in this matchup. In addition, the Utes collected 25 boards (10 offensive, 15 defensive) and got 2 rejections. Utah finished the game at 58.3% at the charity stripe by burying 7 of their 12 shots. They converted 9 of their 28 tries from long range.

Matt Haarms is a guy who came through for this contest. He recorded 7 points on 3 of 7 shooting. He saw the court for 18 mins and also snagged 4 rebounds. Haarms ended up shooting 42.9% from the field and earned 2 dimes. One more player that played big minutes in the game for the Cougars was Connor Harding. He had 4 boards and also accounted for 2 dimes. He finished the contest at 75.0% from the floor in this game by shooting 6-of-8 (17 points). When the game finished, Harding saw the court for 26 min.

San Diego State has a win-loss mark of 5-0 for the year. In terms of offensive execution, the Aztecs are connecting on 44.3% from the field, which ranks 200th in D-1. San Diego State has scored 378 pts this year (75.6 per contest) and they pull in 37.4 rebounds per contest. They are getting an assist 14.0 times per contest (149th in the country) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 11.2 times per game. The Aztecs commit 18.4 personal fouls per contest and they shoot 72.3% from the charity stripe. The Aztecs on defense are ranked 15th in college basketball in points per game surrendered with 57.0. They are forcing their opponents into 17.2 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 37.5% from the floor (41st in the country). The San Diego State defense surrenders 32.5% on shots from beyond the arc (39 of 120) and opponents are making 66.7% of their foul shots. They have relinquished 13.0 dimes and 32.8 rebounds on a nightly basis, which has them ranked 183rd and 93rd in college hoops.

The last time they took the court, the San Diego State Aztecs went home victorious with a score of 80-68 against the Arizona State Sun Devils. The Aztecs earned 27 defensive boards and 11 offensive rebounds for a total of 38 for the matchup. They also stuffed 3 attempts while recording 8 steals in this contest. The Sun Devils earned 23 fouls for the game which got the Aztecs to the free throw line for a total of 25 shots. They were able to make 18 of the free throw tries for a clip of 72.0%. When discussing shots from distance, San Diego State knocked down 8 out of their 25 attempts (32.0%). In all, the Aztecs went 27 out of 61 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 44.3%. The Aztecs allowed the Sun Devils to convert 20 out of their 58 attempts from the field which left them with a shooting percentage of 34.5% in this game. They shot 38.2% from beyond the arc by going 13 out of 34 and finished the game at 15 of 22 at the free throw line (68.2%). In the matter of rebounds, San Diego State permitted Arizona State to snag 32 in total (6 on the offensive side).

Jordan Schakel saw the court a lot for the Aztecs for the contest. He converted 9 out of 15 in this matchup giving him a field goal percentage of 60.0%, which had him finishing with 25 points. Schakel pulled down 6 rebounds in his 32 minutes and earned 2 dimes for this contest. Someone else who came through for San Diego State was Nathan Mensah. He ended up walking away with 17 points in 28 minutes played by going 7 out of 12 shooting for the game. Mensah ended up shooting 58.3% from the field while also earning 2 assists and 15 boards.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take BYU (+7.5)

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