Niagara Purple Eagles vs St. Peter's Peacocks Prediction, 12/12/2020 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Niagara Purple Eagles vs St. Peter's Peacocks

Date: Saturday, December 12, 2020

Location: Yanitelli Center in Jersey City, NJ

TV: ESPN3

Odds/Point Spread: Niagara (+8.5)

The St. Peter's Peacocks (2-2) play the Niagara Purple Eagles (0-1) at Yanitelli Center on Saturday. Niagara opens this game as 8.5-point underdogs. The O/U opens at 133.

Niagara will enter this game with a mark of 0-1 for the season. The Purple Eagles are hitting 16.7% on shots from downtown (6 of 36) and 50.0% from the charity stripe. They average 45 pts per contest (315th in the nation) on 27.7% from the field. They are turning it over 17 times per contest and as a group are committing 16 fouls per contest. As a team, Niagara is snagging 32 rebounds per game and has totaled 14 dimes so far this season, which ranks 301st in the country in terms of passing. When they are on the defensive end, the Purple Eagles are able to force 17 turnovers per contest and they draw 10 fouls. They concede 21.7% from beyond the arc and they are ranked 227th in college basketball in PPG allowed (75). The Purple Eagles defense is allowing a FG percentage of 45.0% (27 of 60) and they surrender 51 boards per contest as a squad. They rank 18th in college basketball in giving up assists to the opposition with 15 surrendered so far this year.

The Niagara Purple Eagles faced the Syracuse Orange and ended up losing by a score of 75-45 in their last contest. Niagara finished the game having earned a 27.7% FG percentage (18 of 65) and knocked down 6 of 36 shots from distance. When they shot from the free throw line, the Purple Eagles made 3 of their 6 shots for a rate of 50.0%. When discussing grabbing rebounds, they earned 28 with 9 of them being on the offensive end. They also dished out 14 assists for the game while getting 7 steals and 2 blocks. In regard to defense, Niagara allowed their opponent to shoot 27.7% from the field on 18 out of 65. Syracuse recorded 15 dimes and 11 steals for the contest. In addition, the Orange totaled 47 boards (10 offensive, 37 defensive) and earned 2 blocks. Syracuse went 76.2% when shooting free throws by converting 16 of 21 shots. They made 5 out of their 23 attempts from distance.

Marcus Hammond is one player who was a factor in the matchup. He recorded 8 points on 3 of 13 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 31 minutes and also pulled down 10 rebounds. Hammond walked away from this one shooting 23.1% from the floor and totaled 3 assists. An additional guy that played a role in this contest for the Purple Eagles was Nicholas Kratholm. He grabbed 2 rebounds and also totaled 2 assists. He went 66.7% from the field for the matchup by shooting 4-of-6 (8 points). When the final whistle was blown, Kratholm was on the court for 25 minutes.

St. Peter's has a record of 2-2 on the season. The Peacocks commit 23.5 fouls per contest while shooting 63.0% from the free throw line. They are dishing out assists 16.5 times per game (66th in D-1) and they are turning it over 14.5 times per contest. St. Peter's has accounted for 276 points so far this season (69.0 per game) and they pull down 34.5 rebounds per game. As an offensive unit, the Peacocks are connecting on 42.3% from the floor, which has them ranked 253rd in the nation. The Peacocks defensively are ranked 186th in college basketball in points per game surrendered with 71.3. They allow 15.0 assists and 40.0 boards every game, ranking them 241st and 257th in the nation. The St. Peter's defense allows 37.2% on shots from distance (32 of 86) and opponents are connecting on 62.5% of their shots from the charity stripe. They are forcing 17.0 turnovers on a nightly basis and allow teams to shoot 43.9% from the floor (194th in college basketball).

The last time they took the court, the St. Peter's Peacocks took a defeat with a final score of 90-57 against the Maryland Terrapins. The Peacocks were able to pull down 19 defensive rebounds and 10 offensive boards for a total of 29 in the matchup. They rejected 4 shots while recording 9 steals in this contest. The Terrapins committed 19 personal fouls in this contest which got the Peacocks to the charity stripe for 19 attempts. They were able to convert 9 of those for a percentage of 47.4%. In terms of shooting from 3-point land, St. Peter's buried 8 of their 27 attempts (29.6%). When the final whistle blew, the Peacocks went 20 for 62 from the field which gave them a rate of 32.3%. The Peacocks allowed the Terrapins to convert 26 of 50 attempts from the floor which gave them a percentage of 52.0% in the matchup. They went 39.1% from three-point range by going 9 of 23 and finished the game at 29 out of 45 from the free throw line (64.4%). Concerning rebounding, St. Peter's permitted Maryland to snag 44 in all (13 offensive).

Darryl Banks ended up being a factor for the Peacocks for the contest. He knocked down 4 of 10 for the contest for a field goal rate of 40.0%, which got him 11 points. Banks pulled down 2 boards in his 30 mins and had 2 dimes for this contest. Another guy who saw a lot of court time for St. Peter's was KC Ndefo. He walked away with 9 points in 25 minutes on the hardwood by going 4 out of 8 from the floor for the matchup. Ndefo ended up shooting 50.0% from the floor in addition to contributing 2 assists and 3 rebounds.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take St. Peter's (-8.5)

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