Central Michigan Chippewas vs Akron Zips Prediction, 1/1/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Central Michigan Chippewas vs Akron Zips

Date: Friday, January 1, 2021

Location: James A. Rhodes Arena in Akron, OH

TV: CBSSN

Odds/Point Spread: Central Michigan (+10)

James A. Rhodes Arena is the venue where and the Akron Zips (3-1) will play the Central Michigan Chippewas (5-4) on Friday. Central Michigan opens this contest as 10-point dogs. The over/under has been set at 154.

Central Michigan will enter this matchup with a mark of 5-4 for the year. The Chippewas are hitting 36.6% on 3-pointers (67 of 183) and 65.6% from the free throw line. They are averaging 83.3 pts per game (38th in D-1) while shooting 46.9% from the field. They turn it over 13.1 times per game and as a group are committing 18.3 fouls on a nightly basis. As a team, Central Michigan is grabbing 38.8 rebounds per game and has racked up 114 assists this year, which is 115th in college basketball in terms of passing the rock. On defense, the Chippewas are forcing their opponents into 16.6 turnovers per contest while drawing 20.3 fouls. The Chippewas defensively are allowing an opponent shooting percentage of 42.8% (237 of 554) and they concede 36.8 rebounds per game as a basketball team. They are currently ranked 296th in the nation in giving up assists to their opponents with 130 relinquished so far this year. They give up 32.4% on 3-point shots and they are ranked 231st in D-1 in opponents PPG (72.8).

The Central Michigan Chippewas stepped onto the hardwood against the Eastern Michigan Eagles and went home with a win by a final score of 87-60 in their last contest. Central Michigan ended having earned a 58.2% FG percentage (32 out of 55) and made 9 of their 22 shots from distance. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Chippewas knocked down 14 of their 26 shots for a rate of 53.8%. Regarding hauling in boards, they earned 33 with 7 of them being of the offensive variety. They also doled out 14 assists for the game while getting 5 steals and 2 blocked shots. When it comes to the defense, Central Michigan allowed the other team to shoot 58.2% from the field on 32 out of 55 shooting. Eastern Michigan recorded 9 assists and had 8 steals for this game. In addition, the Eagles grabbed 27 rebounds (8 offensive, 19 defensive) and got 2 blocks. Eastern Michigan finished the game shooting 69.2% from the charity stripe by converting 9 of 13 tries. They converted 9 out of their 28 attempts from 3-point land.

Travon Broadway is someone who had an impact in this matchup. He ended up walking away with 21 points on 7 of 9 shooting. He was on the court for 24 mins played and also totaled 3 rebounds. Broadway finished the game at 77.8% from the floor and also distributed 2 assists. One more player that was a major contributor in this game for the Chippewas was Meikkel Murray. He snagged 7 rebounds and also tallied 3 assists. He finished the game shooting 57.1% from the floor in this contest by connecting on 8-of-14 (18 points). When all was said and done, Murray played for 33 min.

Akron has a win-loss mark of 3-1 for the season. Akron has totaled 354 points this season (88.5 per contest) and they snag 41.5 rebounds per game. The Zips have committed 17.3 personal fouls per game and they shoot 82.4% from the free throw line. In terms of offensive execution, the Zips are connecting on 50.6% from the field, which is 43rd in college hoops. They are assisting teammates 16.0 times per game (68th in college hoops) and they are turning it over 12.3 times per contest. The Zips on the defensive end are ranked 184th in the country in points given up per game with 70.8. They give up 11.8 assists and 31.5 rebounds per game, which has them ranked 106th and 56th in those categories on the defensive end. The Akron defense concedes 24.1% on 3-pointers (21 of 87) and opponents are connecting on 64.5% of their shots from the charity stripe. They are able to force 11.5 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 43.5% from the floor (209th in the nation).

The last time they took the court, the Akron Zips walked away with a victory by a final of 90-70 when they faced the Ohio Bobcats. The Zips collected 28 defensive boards and 6 offensive rebounds for a total of 34 for the contest. They turned away 3 shots while getting 2 steals in this contest. The Bobcats committed 13 fouls in this contest which took the Zips to the free throw line for a total of 9 shots. They were able to make 6 of those for a rate of 66.7%. Concerning shooting from distance, Akron buried 14 out of their 25 attempts (56.0%). In all, the Zips went 35 for 55 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 63.6%. The Zips permitted the Bobcats to make 26 of their 62 attempts from the field which gave them a rate of 41.9% in the matchup. They shot 29.6% from downtown by connecting on 8 of 27 and walked away from this one shooting 10 out of 16 from the free throw line (62.5%). In regard to cleaning the glass, Akron allowed Ohio to pull down 22 in all (10 offensive).

Bryan Trimble was important for the Zips for the matchup. He made 8 out of 10 in the matchup giving him a rate of 80.0%, which had him finishing with 22 points. Trimble collected 2 rebounds in his 26 minutes and had 2 dimes in this matchup. Someone else that ended up playing a role for Akron was Loren Cristian Jackson. He totaled 21 points in his 34 minutes played via 7 out of 16 shooting in the matchup. Jackson ended up shooting 43.8% from the field as well as collecting 8 assists and 2 rebounds.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Central Michigan (+10)

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