Fairfield Stags vs Niagara Purple Eagles Prediction, 12/18/2020 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Fairfield Stags vs Niagara Purple Eagles

Date: Friday, December 18, 2020

Location: Gallagher Center in Niagara Falls, NY

TV: ESPN3

Odds/Point Spread: Fairfield (+5)

The Fairfield Stags (1-5) are headed to Gallagher Center on Friday where they'll take on the Niagara Purple Eagles (0-3). Niagara opens this contest as 5-point favorites. The total opens at 127.5.

Fairfield comes into this game with a win-loss record of 1-5 this season. They have an average of 58.2 points per outing (315th in the nation) while connecting on 38.0% from the field. The Stags are shooting 26.2% on 3-pointers (27 of 103) and 66.0% from the charity stripe. As a unit, Fairfield is grabbing 37.7 boards per game and has racked up 46 assists on the year, which has them ranked 257th in the nation in terms of passing the ball. They turn the ball over 16.0 times per contest and as a squad are committing 18.3 personal fouls every game. On the defensive end, the Stags have forced 10.5 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 19.0 fouls. They concede 29.6% on 3-point shots while they are 187th in Division 1 in points per game allowed (70.7). The Stags defense is giving up a field goal percentage of 42.1% (158 of 375) and they surrender 38.5 boards per contest as a team. They rank 235th in college hoops in giving up assists to the opposition with 80 conceded on the year.

The Fairfield Stags took the court against the Iona Gaels and notched a win by a score of 67-52 in their last contest. Fairfield finished the game with a 42.6% field goal percentage (23 of 54) and knocked down 5 of 18 shots from 3-point land. At the free throw line, the Stags made 16 of their 23 attempts for a rate of 69.6%. Pertaining to grabbing rebounds, they collected 36 with 11 of them being offensive. They also doled out 12 assists for this contest as well as getting 7 steals and 5 blocks. With respect to the defense, Fairfield let their opponent shoot 42.6% from the floor on 23 out of 54. Iona totaled 8 dimes and 6 steals for this game. In addition, the Gaels snagged 29 rebounds (9 offensive, 20 defensive) and added 5 blocks. Iona finished 72.2% from the charity stripe by converting 13 of their 18 tries. They converted 3 of 14 attempts from downtown.

Taj Benning is a guy who was important in this matchup. He was able to score 10 points on 2 out of 5 shooting. He saw the court for 38 minutes played and also snagged 5 rebounds. Benning finished 40.0% from the floor and dished out 2 assists. One more player that saw a lot of time on the hardwood in this contest for the Stags was Jalen Leach. He pulled down 7 rebounds and also accounted for 2 assists. He walked away from this one shooting 33.3% from the field in the game via 3-of-9 (10 points). When all was said and done, Leach played 37 minutes.

Niagara has a win-loss record of 0-3 on the season. Niagara has accounted for 148 pts for the season (49.3 per contest) and they average 33.0 boards per game. The Purple Eagles commit 15.0 personal fouls per contest and they go 54.5% from the charity stripe. As an offensive unit, the Purple Eagles are connecting on 31.0% from the field, which is ranked 354th in D-1. They are dishing out assists 11.0 times per game (282nd in the country) and they cough up possession 15.3 times per contest. The Purple Eagles on defense are ranked 115th in D-1 in PPG allowed with 66.0. They have given up 12.7 assists and 44.0 boards every game, which is 161st and 317th in college basketball. The Niagara defense surrenders 25.9% on 3-pointers (15 of 58) and their opponents are converting on 70.9% of their free throw attempts. They are forcing 15.0 turnovers on a nightly basis and allow teams to shoot 42.9% from the field (184th in D-1).

For their last game, the Niagara Purple Eagles took a loss by a score of 53-49 when they faced the St. Peter's Peacocks. The Purple Eagles collected 22 defensive rebounds and 8 offensive boards totaling 30 in this matchup. They also rejected 2 shots while earning 5 steals in the matchup. The Peacocks committed 22 personal fouls for this contest which took the Purple Eagles to the free throw line for 22 attempts. They were able to bury 11 of the free throw attempts for a rate of 50.0%. Concerning shots from downtown, Niagara converted 8 of 22 tries (36.4%). When the game finished, the Purple Eagles finished 15 for 49 from the floor which gave them a rate of 30.6%. The Purple Eagles permitted the Peacocks to convert 19 of 51 tries from the floor which had them shooting 37.3% for the matchup. They finished 11.8% from beyond the arc via 2 of 17 and finished the contest at 13 out of 18 from the charity stripe (72.2%). With respect to rebounding, Niagara allowed St. Peter's to grab 39 in total (10 on the offensive side).

Marcus Hammond ended up being important for the Purple Eagles in the matchup. He buried 5 out of 14 in this game for a field goal percentage of 35.7%, which had him finishing with 15 points. Hammond grabbed 5 rebounds in his 37 minutes and had 2 dimes for the game. One more player that was important for Niagara was Kobi Nwandu. He was able to score 11 points in 35 minutes on the court via 4 of 11 from the floor in this matchup. Nwandu finished going 36.4% from the field in addition to contributing 3 assists and 4 total rebounds.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Fairfield (+5)

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