Rice Owls vs Houston Baptist Huskies Prediction, 12/5/2020 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Rice Owls vs Houston Baptist Huskies

Date: Saturday, December 5, 2020

Location: Sharp Gymnasium in Houston, TX

TV: ESPN+

Odds/Point Spread: Rice (-7.5)

The Rice Owls (3-0) are headed to Sharp Gymnasium on Saturday where they'll meet the Houston Baptist Huskies (0-3). Houston Baptist opens this matchup as 7.5-point underdogs. The O/U opens at 161.5.

Rice enters this game with a win-loss mark of 3-0 for the season. They are giving up possession 17.0 times per contest and as a team they are committing 16.0 fouls on a nightly basis. As a team, Rice is grabbing 49.0 rebounds per contest and has accounted for 51 dimes for the year, which is 66th in college basketball in terms of passing the rock. The Owls are shooting 31.1% on three-point shots (28 of 90) and 65.1% from the free throw line. They are averaging 88.3 points per game (35th in the nation) on 47.6% from the field. On the defensive end, the Owls are able to force 16.7 turnovers per game while drawing 18.7 personal fouls. They are ranked 118th in D-1 in allowing assists with 29 conceded on the campaign. The Owls defensively are giving up a FG percentage of 37.3% (72 of 193) and they surrender 32.7 rebounds per contest as a squad. They relinquish 29.8% on 3-point shots while they are 81st in college hoops in points per game allowed (63.7).

The Rice Owls faced off with the LeTourneau Yellow Jackets and went home with a win by a final score of 94-74 in their last contest. Rice finished with a 50.0% FG percentage (37 of 74) and converted 10 of their 29 three-point shots. When they shot from the free throw line, the Owls converted 10 of their 17 attempts for a rate of 58.8%. When it comes to rebounding, they earned 44 with 12 of them being offensive. They also doled out 19 assists for the matchup while earning 6 steals and 2 rejections. With respect to defense, Rice allowed their opponent to shoot 50.0% from the floor on 37 of 74. LeTourneau earned 11 dimes and 10 steals for the matchup. In addition, the Yellow Jackets totaled 35 boards (6 offensive, 29 defensive) and had 2 blocks. LeTourneau ended up shooting 62.5% at the charity stripe by burying 5 of 8 attempts. They made 9 of 29 attempts from 3-point land.

Travis Evee is one guy who came through in the matchup. He notched 13 points on 5 out of 8 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 27 minutes played and also totaled 3 rebounds. Evee finished the game at 62.5% from the field and also totaled 2 assists. One more player that was a major factor in the game for the Owls was Chris Mullins. He pulled down 5 rebounds and also tallied 2 assists. He ended up shooting 54.5% from the field for the contest by shooting 6-of-11 (13 points). When the final whistle blew, Mullins was on the hardwood for 23 min.

Houston Baptist has a win-loss record of 0-3 for the year. The Huskies commit 16.7 fouls per game and they hit 76.9% from the charity stripe. They are earning an assist 14.7 times per contest (112th in college basketball) and they are losing possession via turnover 19.0 times per contest. Houston Baptist has accounted for 197 pts this season (65.7 per game) and they grab 34.3 rebounds per game. As an offense, the Huskies are shooting 36.7% from the floor, which is 328th in the nation. The Huskies on the defensive end are ranked 279th in college hoops in PPG given up with 90.3. The Houston Baptist defense concedes 36.5% on shots from beyond the perimeter (27 of 74) and their opposition knocks down 67.7% of their shots from the free throw line. They have conceded 19.0 dimes and 41.7 rebounds per contest, which is ranked 269th and 251st in college hoops. They are forcing 11.0 turnovers per game and have let teams shoot 49.8% from the floor (270th in college hoops).

The last time they took the court, the Houston Baptist Huskies went home defeated by a final of 102-75 when they played the SMU Mustangs. The Huskies were able to corral 18 defensive rebounds and 11 offensive rebounds totaling 29 for the game. They turned away 6 shots while getting 7 steals in this game. The Mustangs were called for 22 personal fouls in this matchup which took the Huskies to the free throw line for 24 attempts. They were able to bury 17 of those for a rate of 70.8%. With regard to shots from distance, Houston Baptist converted 12 out of 30 tries (40.0%). When the final whistle blew, the Huskies shot 23 out of 60 from the field which gave them a percentage of 38.3%. The Huskies permitted the Mustangs to bury 36 of their 74 attempts from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 48.6% for this game. They shot 38.1% from distance by going 8 of 21 and ended up going 22 out of 28 from the free throw line (78.6%). In reference to how they attacked the glass, Houston Baptist allowed SMU to get 41 in total (15 offensive).

Pedro Castro ended up seeing a lot of time on the hardwood for the Huskies in this contest. He made 1 of 6 in this matchup giving him a rate of 16.7%, which had him finishing with 9 points. Castro pulled down 5 boards in his 28 minutes played and accumulated 2 assists in this contest. An additional guy that was pivotal for Houston Baptist was Jade Tse. He ended up walking away with 11 points in his 25 minutes on the court via 4 of 5 shooting for the contest. Tse ended the game having shot 80.0% from the floor while totaling 3 assists and 3 rebounds.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Rice (-7.5)

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