Michigan State Spartans vs Northwestern Wildcats Prediction, 12/20/2020 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Michigan State Spartans vs Northwestern Wildcats

Date: Sunday, December 20, 2020

Location: Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, IL

TV: BTN

Odds/Point Spread: Michigan State (-4)

Welsh-Ryan Arena is the venue where and the Northwestern Wildcats (3-1) will take on the Michigan State Spartans (6-0) on Sunday. The odds on this matchup have Michigan State as 4-point favorites. The O/U is set at 151.5.

Michigan State enters this contest with a win-loss mark of 6-0 for the season. The Spartans are shooting 36.4% on 3-pointers (55 of 151) and 76.9% from the charity stripe. They average 84.8 points per outing (33rd in college hoops) while going 48.3% from the floor. They turn it over 15.2 times per contest and as a squad are committing 18.0 personal fouls on a nightly basis. As a team, Michigan State is pulling down 43.2 rebounds per game and has earned 138 dimes on the season, which is 8th in D-1 in terms of passing the ball. When they are on defense, the Spartans have forced 11.0 turnovers every game while drawing 18.0 fouls. The Spartans defensively are allowing a field goal percentage of 39.7% (151 of 380) and they surrender 32.2 rebounds per game as a unit. They are ranked 220th in college basketball in allowing assists with 80 conceded on the season. They relinquish 33.3% on shots from distance and they are 217th in college basketball in opponents points per game (72.3).

The Michigan State Spartans stepped onto the hardwood against the Oakland Golden Grizzlies and took home the win by a score of 109-91 in their last game. Michigan State walked away from the game with a 51.3% field goal percentage (39 out of 76) and converted 15 of their 37 3-pointers. At the free throw line, the Spartans knocked down 16 of 17 tries for a rate of 94.1%. In terms of grabbing rebounds, they earned 46 with 16 of them being of the offensive sort. They also recorded 32 dimes for the contest in addition to earning 4 steals and 3 rejections. When talking about defending, Michigan State allowed 51.3% from the field on 39 out of 76. Oakland distributed 16 assists and 11 steals in this game. In addition, the Golden Grizzlies collected 18 rebounds (2 offensive, 16 defensive) and had 3 rejections. Oakland finished shooting 55.0% when shooting free throws by burying 11 of 20 attempts. They buried 18 of 34 shots from 3-point land.

Aaron Henry is one guy who saw a lot of action in the game. He ended up finishing with 15 points on 6 of 13 shooting. He played 28 minutes and pulled down 5 boards. Henry walked away from this one shooting 46.2% from the field and also totaled 5 assists. An additional guy that saw the court a lot in this matchup for the Spartans was Joey Hauser. He collected 10 rebounds and also accounted for 4 dimes. He went 66.7% from the field for this contest by going 4-of-6 (10 points). When the final whistle was blown, Hauser was on the hardwood for 25 min.

Northwestern has a record of 3-1 so far this year. The Wildcats are committing 18.0 personal fouls every game and they shoot 72.1% from the free throw line. They are getting an assist 22.0 times per game (5th in Division 1) and they turn the ball over 10.0 times per game. Northwestern has totaled 373 points for the season (93.3 per contest) and they grab 48.3 boards per game. When it comes to executing on offense, the Wildcats are hitting on 46.4% from the floor, which ranks 139th in the nation. The Wildcats defensively are ranked 22nd in college basketball in PPG given up with 58.5. The Northwestern defense allows 27.6% on shots from distance (27 of 98) and their opposition knocks down 65.1% of their free throw shots. They have given up 12.5 assists and 32.5 rebounds per contest, which ranks them 152nd and 87th in the country. They have forced 13.8 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 33.7% from the floor (8th in college basketball).

For their last game, the Northwestern Wildcats took home the win by a final score of 100-48 when they played the Quincy University Hawks. The Wildcats were able to snag 30 defensive rebounds and 20 offensive boards totaling 50 for this contest. They also stuffed 5 attempts while earning 5 steals in this game. The Hawks committed 18 fouls in this matchup which got the Wildcats to the free throw line for a total of 24 tries. They were able to knock down 18 of them for a clip of 75.0%. With respect to shooting from distance, Northwestern buried 14 out of their 29 attempts (48.3%). When the final whistle blew, the Wildcats went 34 out of 76 from the field which gave them a rate of 44.7%. The Wildcats allowed the Hawks to knock down 19 of 53 tries from the field which had them at 35.8% in this matchup. They finished 32.0% from behind the 3-point line by connecting on 8 of 25 and walked away from this one shooting 2 of 3 from the free throw line (66.7%). Concerning rebounding, Northwestern allowed Quincy to grab 20 in total (3 on the offensive glass).

Chase Audige ended up being a factor for the Wildcats for this game. He made 6 out of 13 in this matchup for a rate of 46.2%, which got him 14 points. Audige grabbed 3 rebounds in his 26 minutes played and accumulated 2 dimes in the game. Another guy who saw a lot of minutes for Northwestern was Miller Kopp. He left the arena with 23 points in his 24 minutes on the court via 6 out of 10 from the floor in the matchup. Kopp ended up shooting 60.0% from the floor while also totaling 2 dimes and 3 total rebounds.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Michigan State (-4)

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