Cal State Northridge Matadors vs California Golden Bears Prediction, 12/19/2020 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Cal State Northridge Matadors vs California Golden Bears

Date: Saturday, December 19, 2020

Location: Haas Pavilion in Berkeley, CA

TV: ESPN+

Odds/Point Spread: Cal State Northridge (+9.5)

The Cal State Northridge Matadors (3-2) go to Haas Pavilion on Saturday where they'll take on the California Golden Bears (3-4). California opens this matchup as 9.5-point favorites. The total has been set at 140.

Cal State Northridge steps onto the hardwood with a mark of 3-2 so far this year. They are losing possession via turnover 11.6 times per game and as a unit are committing 21.2 fouls every game. As a unit, Cal State Northridge is collecting 36.4 boards per game and has accumulated 76 dimes for the season, which is 148th in the country in terms of passing the rock. The Matadors are shooting 32.8% on three-point attempts (44 of 134) and 73.6% from the charity stripe. They average 78.8 pts per contest (90th in college hoops) while shooting 43.9% from the field. Defensively, the Matadors are able to force 14.6 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 18.0 personal fouls. They are surrendering 32.2% on three-point shots and they rank 255th in college basketball in opponents PPG (75.2). The Matadors are giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 45.2% (123 of 272) and they relinquish 35.8 boards per contest as a unit. They are ranked 185th in college basketball in giving up assists to the opposition with 69 relinquished this year.

The Cal State Northridge Matadors faced the Stanford Cardinal and took a loss by a final of 82-71 in their last game. Cal State Northridge wrapped up the contest with a 36.4% field goal percentage (24 of 66) and made 12 of 32 shots from 3-point land. From the charity stripe, the Matadors converted 11 of their 15 tries for a rate of 73.3%. In reference to pulling down rebounds, they earned 28 with 15 of them being of the offensive variety. They also doled out 13 assists for this game as well as having 11 steals and 2 rejections. When it comes to defense, Cal State Northridge allowed 36.4% from the floor on 24 of 66. Stanford doled out 14 dimes and 7 steals for the game. In addition, the Cardinal collected 35 rebounds (8 offensive, 27 defensive) and had 2 blocked shots. Stanford finished the game shooting 77.4% when shooting free throws by burying 24 of 31 attempts. They also made 4 out of their 13 shots from three-point range.

TJ Starks is a player who played a lot for this game. He accumulated 19 points on 6 of 15 shooting. He was on the court for 38 minutes and pulled down 5 rebounds. Starks walked away from this one shooting 40.0% from the field and also earned 4 assists. Another guy that saw a lot of court time in the game for the Matadors was Lance Coleman. He collected 2 rebounds and earned 2 assists. He finished the contest at 38.9% from the floor for this game by hitting 7-of-18 (20 points). When the final whistle blew, Coleman was on the court for 29 minutes.

California has a win-loss mark of 3-4 this year. As an offensive unit, the Golden Bears are hitting on 43.3% from the floor, which is 234th in the nation. California has accumulated 461 pts on the campaign (65.9 per contest) and they average 35.3 rebounds per contest. They are dishing out assists 12.6 times per game (224th in D-1) and they are giving up possession 14.9 times per game. The Golden Bears commit 16.6 personal fouls every game and they connect on 66.7% from the charity stripe. The Golden Bears are ranked 128th in college hoops in PPG given up with 67.3. They are able to force 13.0 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 45.7% from the floor (265th in college basketball). The California defense surrenders 38.8% on shots from 3-point land (54 of 139) and their opposition knocks down 61.5% of their free throw attempts. They relinquish 15.1 assists and 32.9 boards per contest, which is ranked 268th and 94th in D-1.

The last time they took the hardwood, the California Golden Bears walked away with a victory by a final of 72-70 when they faced the San Francisco Dons. The Golden Bears were able to corral 22 defensive boards and 3 offensive rebounds totaling 25 in the matchup. They also turned away 2 shots while recording 6 steals for this game. The Dons had 22 fouls for the game which got the Golden Bears to the free throw line for a total of 23 attempts. They were able to convert 16 of the free throw tries for a clip of 69.6%. With respect to 3-point shots, California buried 6 of 15 tries (40.0%). Overall, the Golden Bears finished the game shooting 25 for 53 from the field which had them sitting at 47.2%. The Golden Bears permitted the Dons to knock down 23 out of their 49 attempts from the floor which had them sitting at 46.9% for the game. They shot 43.5% from distance by hitting 10 out of 23 and ended up going 14 of 18 from the charity stripe (77.8%). In reference to how they attacked the glass, California permitted San Francisco to get 30 in total (4 on the offensive side).

Matt Bradley ended up having an impact for the Golden Bears for this contest. He made 7 out of 14 in the game giving him a rate of 50.0%, which got him 17 points. Bradley pulled down 3 rebounds in his 29 minutes played and totaled 5 dimes in this matchup. Another guy who was a determining factor for California was Grant Anticevich. He ended up walking away with 18 points in his 36 minutes played via 7 out of 12 from the floor for this contest. Anticevich finished going 58.3% from the floor while collecting 3 assists and 7 total rebounds.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take California (-9.5)

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