Santa Clara Broncos vs San Jose State Spartans Prediction, 12/18/2020 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Santa Clara Broncos vs San Jose State Spartans

Date: Friday, December 18, 2020

Location: Provident Credit Union Event Center in San Jose, CA

TV: ESPN+

Odds/Point Spread: Santa Clara (-7.5)

The San Jose State Spartans (1-2) host the Santa Clara Broncos (6-0) at Provident Credit Union Event Center on Friday. The line on this contest has Santa Clara as 7.5-point favorites. The O/U is set at 145.5.

Santa Clara heads into this game with a mark of 6-0 on the year. The Broncos are hitting 27.2% on shots from 3-point land (28 of 103) and 64.9% from the free throw line. They average 69.7 points per game (227th in D-1) while connecting on 42.3% from the field. They are losing possession via turnover 12.0 times per contest and as a unit they are committing 17.7 fouls every game. As a unit, Santa Clara is pulling down 42.3 boards per contest and is sitting with 77 dimes for the season, which is 136th in college basketball in terms of passing. On defense, the Broncos have forced 14.3 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 23.0 fouls. They are currently ranked 193rd in college hoops in giving up assists to their opponents with 70 relinquished for the year. The Broncos defensively are allowing an opponent FG percentage of 33.5% (117 of 349) and they relinquish 34.8 rebounds per game as a squad. They are giving up 29.9% on shots from downtown while they are 23rd in D-1 in PPG allowed (58.3).

The Santa Clara Broncos stepped onto the hardwood against the Fresno Pacific Sunbirds and notched a win by a score of 88-65 in their last contest. Santa Clara walked away from the contest having earned a 52.7% FG percentage (29 of 55) and buried 8 of 18 shots from beyond the perimeter. From the free throw line, the Broncos made 22 of their 30 attempts for a percentage of 73.3%. In reference to hauling in rebounds, they compiled 43 with 10 of them being of the offensive sort. They also dished out 23 assists for this game in addition to earning 6 steals and 6 blocks. In the matter of defending, Santa Clara allowed the other team to shoot 52.7% from the floor on 29 out of 55. Fresno Pacific earned 13 assists and 10 steals in the matchup. In addition, the Sunbirds grabbed 23 rebounds (4 offensive, 19 defensive) and had 6 blocks. Fresno Pacific shot 73.3% at the free throw line by making 11 of 15 attempts. They also buried 12 out of their 31 attempts from long range.

Josip Vrankic is one guy who was a contributor for this contest. He racked up 17 points on 6 out of 10 shooting. He played 34 mins and also snagged 10 rebounds. Vrankic shot 60.0% from the field and distributed 4 dimes. Another guy that was a contributor in this matchup for the Broncos was Keshawn Justice. He collected 11 rebounds and accumulated 6 assists. He shot 66.7% from the floor for the game by going 4-of-6 (15 points). At the conclusion of this game, Justice played 33 min.

San Jose State has a record of 1-2 for the year. San Jose State has 219 pts for the campaign (73.0 per game) and they pull down 37.3 rebounds per game. The Spartans are committing 18.7 fouls per game and they connect on 66.7% from the charity stripe. When it comes to offense, the Spartans are shooting 39.7% from the field, which is ranked 303rd in the nation. They are assisting teammates 11.0 times per contest (283rd in the nation) and they cough up possession 14.0 times per contest. The Spartans are ranked 310th in college basketball in points given up per game with 83.3. The San Jose State defense surrenders 26.3% on shots from behind the 3-point line (15 of 57) and their opponents are making 80.9% of their shots from the free throw line. They surrender 11.3 dimes and 43.0 rebounds every game, which is 102nd and 312th in college hoops. They are forcing 10.0 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 45.0% from the field (249th in college basketball).

In their last game, the San Jose State Spartans took a defeat with a final score of 75-71 against the Cal Poly Mustangs. The Spartans corralled 24 defensive rebounds and 8 offensive boards totaling 32 in the game. They blocked 3 tries while getting 7 steals in the game. The Mustangs had 22 fouls in this game which got the Spartans to the free throw line for 33 shots. They were able to knock down 21 of the free throw tries for a clip of 63.6%. With regard to 3-point attempts, San Jose State converted 6 of 21 tries (28.6%). When the final whistle blew, the Spartans ended up going 22 for 62 from the floor which gave them a rate of 35.5%. The Spartans allowed the Mustangs to knock down 25 out of their 57 tries from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 43.9% in the matchup. They wrapped up this game 30.8% from beyond the perimeter by going 4 out of 13 and ended up shooting 21 of 26 at the free throw line (80.8%). When talking about rebounds, San Jose State allowed Cal Poly to collect 38 in all (7 on the offensive side).

Richard Washington played big minutes for the Spartans for this contest. He buried 9 of 21 in the game giving him a rate of 42.9%, which had him sitting at 24 points. Washington totaled 4 rebounds in his 35 minutes played and totaled 2 assists for this contest. Someone else that was important for San Jose State was Ralph Agee. He racked up 13 points in his 32 minutes played by going 4 of 9 shooting for the game. Agee finished going 44.4% from the floor as well as contributing 2 assists and 8 rebounds.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take San Jose State (+7.5)

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