Evansville Purple Aces vs Southern Illinois Salukis Prediction, 12/27/2020 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Evansville Purple Aces vs Southern Illinois Salukis

Date: Sunday, December 27, 2020

Location: Banterra Center in Carbondale, IL

TV: ESPN+

Odds/Point Spread: Evansville (+12.5)

The Evansville Purple Aces (2-4) travel to Banterra Center on Sunday where they'll meet the Southern Illinois Salukis (6-0). Southern Illinois opens this game as 12.5-point favorites. The O/U opens at 128.

Evansville comes into this one with a win-loss record of 2-4 on the season. They turn it over 12.3 times per contest and as a group they are committing 17.7 fouls on a nightly basis. As a team, Evansville is pulling down 30.0 boards per game and has 66 dimes for the season, which has them ranked 255th in D-1 in terms of passing the ball. The Purple Aces are shooting 35.9% on shots beyond the perimeter (56 of 156) and 68.0% from the free throw line. They currently have an average of 64.8 pts per game (289th in college hoops) while connecting on 39.4% from the field. Defensively, the Purple Aces are forcing their opponents into 13.3 turnovers per game and they draw 21.5 fouls. They are 110th in college basketball in allowing assists to their opponents with 72 relinquished on the campaign. The Purple Aces defense is allowing a field goal percentage of 47.9% (158 of 330) and they surrender 37.8 boards per contest as a group. They give up 44.0% from 3-point land and they are ranked 227th in Division 1 in points per game allowed (72.7).

The Evansville Purple Aces stepped onto the hardwood against the Belmont Bruins and took a loss by a score of 72-63 in their last game. Evansville ended the game having earned a 40.0% field goal percentage (20 of 50) and knocked down 11 of their 26 three-point shots. From the charity stripe, the Purple Aces converted 12 of their 14 shots for a rate of 85.7%. When talking about pulling down boards, they collected 19 with 2 of them being on the offensive end. They also dished out 10 assists in the matchup while having 5 steals and 4 blocked shots. When talking about defense, Evansville allowed their opponent to shoot 40.0% from the floor on 20 out of 50 shooting. Belmont doled out 9 assists and had 6 steals in the game. On top of that, the Bruins totaled 31 rebounds (4 offensive, 27 defensive) and earned 4 rejections. Belmont finished the contest at 84.2% from the free throw line by converting 16 of their 19 tries. They also made 4 out of their 13 attempts from three-point range.

Noah Frederking is a player who was a major factor for this game. He ended up scoring 11 points on 3 out of 6 shooting. He played for 29 minutes and also snagged 5 rebounds. Frederking went 50.0% from the floor and earned 2 dimes. An additional guy that had an impact in this matchup for the Purple Aces was Samari Curtis. He grabbed 2 rebounds and also accounted for 2 assists. He finished the contest at 66.7% from the floor in the game by going 4-of-6 (19 points). When the game finished, Curtis was on the court for 17 minutes.

Southern Illinois has a win-loss record of 6-0 on the campaign. The Salukis are committing 15.2 fouls every game and they hit 76.9% from the free throw line. They are earning an assist 16.3 times per game (60th in college basketball) and they are turning it over 11.7 times per contest. Southern Illinois has totaled 482 points on the campaign (80.3 per contest) and they grab 33.8 rebounds per contest. When it comes to offensive execution, the Salukis are shooting 50.5% from the field, which is ranked 51st in the country. The Salukis defensively are ranked 94th in college hoops in points given up per game with 65.5. They are able to force 14.7 TO's every game and have let teams shoot 41.1% from the field (132nd in Division 1). The Southern Illinois defense allows 31.9% on shots from 3-point land (46 of 144) and their opposition knocks down 63.8% of their free throw attempts. They have surrendered 16.7 assists and 34.5 boards every game, which is 310th and 144th in D-1.

When they last stepped on the court, the Southern Illinois Salukis got the win with a final of 76-73 when they played the Butler Bulldogs. The Salukis were able to snag 19 defensive boards and 1 offensive rebounds for a total of 20 in this contest. They stuffed 2 attempts while getting 7 steals in this matchup. The Bulldogs were called for 17 fouls in this game which got the Salukis to the charity stripe for a total of 14 tries. They were able to knock down 9 of the free throw attempts for a rate of 64.3%. In relation to 3-point shots, Southern Illinois buried 9 of their 19 tries (47.4%). When all was said and done, the Salukis shot 29 for 53 from the floor which had them shooting 54.7%. The Salukis permitted the Bulldogs to convert 26 out of their 57 tries from the field which left them shooting 45.6% in this contest. They went 36.4% from three-point range by connecting on 8 out of 22 and ended up shooting 13 of 17 at the charity stripe (76.5%). Regarding attacking the glass, Southern Illinois allowed Butler to grab 32 in total (10 offensive).

Marcus Domask was important for the Salukis in this contest. He made 11 of 20 in this matchup for a field goal rate of 55.0%, which had him sitting at 26 points. Domask pulled down 4 rebounds in his 40 minutes played and had 2 assists for this contest. An additional guy that was important for Southern Illinois was Trent Brown. He notched 21 points in his 34 minutes on the court by going 7 out of 9 shooting for the game. Brown ended up shooting 77.8% from the floor while contributing 2 dimes and 3 total rebounds.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Evansville (+12.5)

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