Montana Grizzlies vs Arizona Wildcats Prediction, 12/22/2020 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Montana Grizzlies vs Arizona Wildcats

Date: Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Location: McKale Center in Tucson, AZ

TV: PAC12

Odds/Point Spread: Montana (+13)

The Montana Grizzlies (3-4) head to McKale Center on Tuesday where they'll take on the Arizona Wildcats (5-1). Montana opens this contest as 13-point underdogs. The over/under opens at 133.

Montana enters this matchup with a record of 3-4 for the season. The Grizzlies are connecting on 33.7% on 3-pointers (34 of 101) and 73.5% from the charity stripe. They currently have an average of 70.7 pts per contest (215th in Division 1) while shooting 47.2% from the field. They cough up possession 14.3 times per contest and as a basketball team are committing 19.9 personal fouls per game. As a team, Montana is grabbing 35.4 boards per contest and has accumulated 92 assists for the campaign, which is 121st in college basketball in terms of passing the rock. Defensively, the Grizzlies are forcing 14.1 turnovers per game while drawing 19.0 fouls. They give up 27.6% on three-point shots and they rank 43rd in college hoops in PPG allowed (61.3). The Grizzlies defensively are giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 38.7% (152 of 393) and they relinquish 33.7 boards per contest as a basketball team. They are 160th in college hoops in giving up assists to their opponents with 73 surrendered for the season.

The Montana Grizzlies stepped onto the hardwood against the Dickinson State Blue Hawks and notched a win by a score of 78-51 in their last contest. Montana wrapped up the contest having earned a 55.0% FG percentage (33 of 60) and made 2 of their 13 3-point attempts. When they shot from the free throw line, the Grizzlies converted 10 of 14 tries for a percentage of 71.4%. In relation to hauling in boards, they collected 43 with 14 of them being offensive. They also dished out 12 dimes in this game in addition to having 6 steals and 4 rejections. Regarding defense, Montana allowed the other team to go 55.0% from the field on 33 of 60. Dickinson State distributed 7 dimes and 7 steals for the game. In addition, the Blue Hawks collected 17 rebounds (3 offensive, 14 defensive) and had 4 blocked shots. Dickinson State walked away from this one shooting 66.7% when shooting free throws by converting 8 of 12 shots. They also buried 5 of 17 attempts from distance.

Josh Bannan is a guy who was pivotal for the matchup. He left the arena with 16 points on 5 out of 9 shooting. He saw the court for 29 minutes played and also pulled down 12 rebounds. Bannan went 55.6% from the floor and also dished out 2 assists. Another guy that played a role in this game for the Grizzlies was Michael Steadman. He collected 5 rebounds and had 2 assists. He walked away from this one shooting 81.8% from the floor in the matchup by going 9-of-11 (18 points). At the conclusion of this game, Steadman was on the hardwood for 15 min.

Arizona has a win-loss mark of 5-1 on the year. Arizona has 469 points on the campaign (78.2 per game) and they pull in 41.5 rebounds per game. The Wildcats are committing 20.3 personal fouls every game and they connect on 71.3% from the charity stripe. When it comes to executing on offense, the Wildcats are hitting on 46.3% from the field, which is 131st in college hoops. They are dishing out assists 15.5 times per contest (82nd in D-1) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 14.3 times per game. The Wildcats are ranked 53rd in Division 1 in PPG given up with 62.3. The Arizona defense gives up 28.6% from downtown (34 of 119) and their opposition makes 69.7% of their foul shots. They have relinquished 11.5 assists and 28.7 rebounds on a nightly basis, which has them ranked 97th and 21st in college basketball. They are forcing 14.5 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 39.4% from the field (72nd in college basketball).

When they last stepped on the hardwood, the Arizona Wildcats took a loss by a score of 78-75 when they played the Stanford Cardinal. The Wildcats collected 19 defensive boards and 11 offensive rebounds totaling 30 for this game. They also turned away 2 shots while getting 7 steals in the game. The Cardinal had 19 personal fouls in the matchup which took the Wildcats to the free throw line for a total of 23 attempts. They were able to make 12 of the free throws for a rate of 52.2%. With regard to three-point attempts, Arizona converted 11 out of their 23 tries (47.8%). Overall, the Wildcats shot 26 for 54 from the floor which had them shooting 48.1%. The Wildcats permitted the Cardinal to convert 29 out of their 55 tries from the floor which left them shooting 52.7% in the game. They finished 53.8% from 3-point land by shooting 7 out of 13 and finished the game at 13 out of 22 at the free throw line (59.1%). When discussing team rebounding, Arizona permitted Stanford to snag 29 in all (9 offensive).

Jemarl Baker played big minutes for the Wildcats in the game. He knocked down 9 out of 17 in this game giving him a field goal percentage of 52.9%, which had him finishing with 29 points. Baker snagged 2 rebounds in his 36 minutes and had 2 dimes for the game. An additional guy who was a determining factor for Arizona was Azuolas Tubelis. He racked up 10 points in his 22 minutes on the hardwood via 3 of 7 from the floor in this contest. Tubelis finished going 42.9% from the floor and also earning 2 dimes and 6 total rebounds.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Arizona (-13)

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