BYU Cougars vs San Diego Toreros Prediction, 1/2/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: BYU Cougars vs San Diego Toreros

Date: Saturday, January 2, 2021

Location: Jenny Craig Pavilion in San Diego, CA

TV: ESPN+

Odds/Point Spread: BYU (-10.5)

The BYU Cougars (9-2) head to Jenny Craig Pavilion on Saturday where they'll meet the San Diego Toreros (1-3). BYU opens this game as 10.5-point favorites. The O/U has been set at 143.

BYU will enter this contest with a record of 9-2 on the campaign. They lose possession via turnover 14.4 times per game and as a squad are committing 18.6 fouls on a nightly basis. As a unit, BYU is collecting 39.3 rebounds per contest and has earned 203 assists this year, which is 2nd in D-1 in terms of passing. The Cougars are hitting 36.1% on shots from distance (104 of 288) and 67.8% from the free throw line. They are averaging 78.9 points per contest (79th in the nation) on 47.8% from the floor. When they are on defense, the Cougars are able to force 13.9 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 19.5 personal fouls. They are currently ranked 285th in college basketball in giving up assists to the opposition with 127 surrendered for the campaign. The Cougars defense is giving up an opponent FG percentage of 40.5% (265 of 654) and they concede 34.8 boards per contest as a group. They are giving up 33.3% on shots from downtown and they are ranked 125th in the country in PPG allowed (67.4).

The BYU Cougars faced off with the Weber State Wildcats and went home with a win by a final score of 87-79 in their last contest. BYU finished the game with a 51.5% FG percentage (34 of 66) and made 6 of 22 3-pointers. From the free throw line, the Cougars knocked down 13 of their 21 shots for a rate of 61.9%. In terms of grabbing boards, they compiled 37 with 9 of them being offensive. They also recorded 21 dimes for this contest as well as having 5 steals and 2 blocked shots. With respect to defense, BYU allowed their opponent to shoot 51.5% from the floor on 34 out of 66 shooting. Weber State dished out 10 assists and had 2 steals in this matchup. Additionally, the Wildcats grabbed 29 boards (5 offensive, 24 defensive) and got 2 blocked shots. Weber State finished the game shooting 64.7% at the charity stripe by burying 11 of their 17 attempts. They also converted 10 out of their 29 attempts from distance.

Matt Haarms is a guy who played a role for this contest. He ended up walking away with 15 points on 6 out of 9 shooting. He played 20 minutes and also grabbed 5 rebounds. Haarms ended up shooting 66.7% from the field and dished out 2 assists. Another guy that was a major contributor in the game for the Cougars was Brandon Averette. He totaled 5 boards and accumulated 7 dimes. He finished the game at 35.7% from the field for the matchup by shooting 5-of-14 (13 points). Overall, Averette played 34 minutes.

San Diego has a win-loss mark of 1-3 for the campaign. The Toreros are committing 16.0 fouls every game while shooting 73.8% from the charity stripe. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 13.0 times per contest (211th in D-1) and they are losing possession via turnover 13.5 times per contest. San Diego has tallied 251 points so far this year (62.8 per game) and they pull in 32.0 boards per game. As an offense, the Toreros are shooting 38.1% from the floor, which has them ranked 331st in the country. The Toreros on the defensive side of the court are 285th in the country in PPG surrendered with 77.0. They relinquish 14.3 dimes and 40.5 rebounds every game, which is 248th and 307th in the country. The San Diego defense concedes 41.4% on 3-pointers (29 of 70) and their opposition knocks down 77.8% of their foul shots. They have forced 12.3 TO's every game and have allowed teams to shoot 46.4% from the floor (283rd in the country).

When they last stepped on the court, the San Diego Toreros took a loss by a score of 85-53 when they played the UC Irvine Anteaters. The Toreros corralled 15 defensive boards and 2 offensive boards totaling 17 for the contest. They rejected 3 attempts while recording 8 steals in this matchup. The Anteaters had 18 personal fouls for the contest which got the Toreros to the free throw line for 20 attempts. They were able to make 16 of the free throw attempts for a percentage of 80.0%. In terms of 3-pointers, San Diego made 5 out of 15 tries (33.3%). When all was said and done, the Toreros finished 16 for 47 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 34.0%. The Toreros permitted the Anteaters to make 33 out of their 64 tries from the floor which gave them a percentage of 51.6% in the game. They finished 38.9% from 3-point land via 7 out of 18 and walked away from this one shooting 12 out of 13 at the free throw line (92.3%). With respect to attacking the glass, San Diego allowed UC Irvine to get 40 in all (12 on the offensive side).

Joey Calcaterra pitched in for the Toreros in this contest. He made 4 of 9 in the game for a field goal rate of 44.4%, which got him 14 points. Calcaterra grabbed 4 rebounds in his 25 mins and had 2 dimes for this contest. An additional guy that was pivotal for San Diego was Jared Rodriguez. He scored 10 points in 15 minutes on the court via 3 of 4 from the floor for the game. Rodriguez ended the game having shot 75.0% from the field in addition to earning 2 assists and 2 total rebounds.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take San Diego (+10.5)

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