Chicago State Cougars vs Drake Bulldogs Prediction, 12/20/2020 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Chicago State Cougars vs Drake Bulldogs

Date: Sunday, December 20, 2020

Location: The Knapp Center in Des Moines, IA

TV: ESPN+

Odds/Point Spread: Chicago State (+31)

The Knapp Center is the venue where and the Drake Bulldogs (7-0) will play the Chicago State Cougars (0-8) on Sunday. Drake opens this game as 31-point favorites. The O/U has been set at 141.

Chicago State will enter this matchup with a mark of 0-8 on the campaign. The Cougars are hitting 24.7% on shots from 3-point land (44 of 178) and 70.2% from the charity stripe. They are averaging 54.0 points per contest (325th in college hoops) while hitting 35.2% from the field. They are turning it over 15.5 times per game and as a squad are committing 20.8 fouls per game. As a team, Chicago State is collecting 26.5 boards per contest and has 78 dimes so far this year, which ranks 146th in Division 1 in terms of passing the rock. On defense, the Cougars are forcing 11.6 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 14.9 personal fouls. The Cougars defense is allowing an opponent FG percentage of 51.7% (249 of 482) and they relinquish 41.9 boards per game as a squad. They currently rank 325th in D-1 in giving up assists with 149 relinquished this year. They are giving up 39.0% on 3-point shots and they are ranked 315th in college hoops in points per game from their opponents (85.9).

The Chicago State Cougars faced the Northern Illinois Huskies and took a loss by a score of 64-54 in their last contest. Chicago State finished the game having earned a 40.0% field goal percentage (20 out of 50) and converted 8 of their 24 three-point shots. At the free throw line, the Cougars made 6 of their 8 shots for a rate of 75.0%. Regarding rebounding, they earned 25 with 4 of them being of the offensive sort. They also dished out 11 dimes for the matchup while having 4 steals and 2 blocked shots. In reference to the defense, Chicago State allowed their opponent to shoot 40.0% from the floor on 20 of 50. Northern Illinois earned 13 assists and 7 steals for the contest. Additionally, the Huskies grabbed 39 rebounds (13 offensive, 26 defensive) and got 2 blocks. Northern Illinois went 78.6% from the free throw line by making 11 of 14 tries. They also knocked down 3 of 16 tries from distance.

Levelle Zeigler is one player who was a major contributor in this contest. He scored 10 points on 4 of 10 shooting. He saw the court for 40 minutes and pulled down 3 boards. Zeigler finished 40.0% from the floor and also distributed 4 assists. An additional guy that saw the court a lot in the game for the Cougars was Xavier Johnson. He snagged 5 rebounds and had 2 dimes. He shot 50.0% from the floor in this game by shooting 8-of-16 (23 points). Overall, Johnson saw the court for 37 min.

Drake has a record of 7-0 on the season. The Bulldogs commit 17.3 personal fouls every game and they hit 71.0% from the charity stripe. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 16.6 times per contest (52nd in the country) and they lose possession via turnover 12.3 times per game. Drake has accounted for 579 pts so far this season (82.7 per contest) and they pull down 38.9 rebounds per game. As an offense, the Bulldogs are hitting on 52.1% from the floor, which has them ranked 46th in college hoops. The Bulldogs are ranked 30th in the nation in PPG given up with 59.7. They have relinquished 9.6 assists and 30.4 boards per contest, which is ranked 33rd and 41st in the nation. The Drake defense gives up 32.1% on 3-pointers (45 of 140) and opponents are making 68.6% of their foul shots. They have forced 15.1 turnovers per game and have let teams shoot 37.2% from the field (36th in college hoops).

The last time they took the court, the Drake Bulldogs got the win with a final of 75-57 when they played the South Dakota Coyotes. The Bulldogs earned 24 defensive rebounds and 7 offensive boards totaling 31 in this game. They rejected 2 tries while recording 8 steals for the game. The Coyotes had 25 fouls for this game which got the Bulldogs to the charity stripe for 29 tries. They were able to make 20 of the free throw attempts for a rate of 69.0%. Pertaining to shooting from beyond the arc, Drake buried 7 of 18 attempts (38.9%). When the final whistle was blown, the Bulldogs shot 24 for 51 from the field which had them at 47.1%. The Bulldogs allowed the Coyotes to knock down 21 out of 49 tries from the floor which gave them a rate of 42.9% for the contest. They finished shooting 26.7% from downtown by shooting 4 of 15 and ended up shooting 11 of 15 from the free throw line (73.3%). With respect to how they cleaned up the glass, Drake permitted South Dakota to collect 21 in all (3 on the offensive side).

Tremell Murphy played a lot for the Bulldogs in this game. He buried 5 out of 8 in the matchup for a field goal rate of 62.5%, which gave him 15 points. Murphy collected 7 boards in his 29 mins and tallied 2 dimes in this contest. Another guy who was a determining factor for Drake was Roman Penn. He totaled 25 points in his 26 minutes played by going 7 out of 10 from the floor for the matchup. Penn walked away from this one going 70.0% from the field while earning 5 dimes and 2 boards.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Chicago State (+31)

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