BYU Cougars vs San Francisco Dons Prediction, 1/16/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: BYU Cougars vs San Francisco Dons

Date: Saturday, January 16, 2021

Location: War Memorial at the Sobrato Center in San Francisco, CA

TV: ESPN2

Odds/Point Spread: BYU (-1)

War Memorial at the Sobrato Center is the venue where and the San Francisco Dons (9-6) will play the BYU Cougars (10-3) on Saturday. San Francisco opens this matchup as 1-point underdogs. The total opens at 143.5.

BYU heads into this contest with a mark of 10-3 for the campaign. They are averaging 76.8 pts per contest (95th in college hoops) on 47.3% from the field. The Cougars are shooting 34.7% on shots from distance (109 of 314) and 68.9% from the free throw line. As a team, BYU is snagging 39.0 boards per contest and has accounted for 219 assists for the year, which ranks 15th in the nation in terms of passing. They are turning it over 14.0 times per game and as a team they commit 18.4 fouls per game. When they are on defense, the Cougars are forcing 13.2 turnovers per game while drawing 19.3 personal fouls. They are ranked 250th in college basketball in allowing assists to the opposition with 153 conceded so far this year. The Cougars defensively are giving up and opponent field goal percentage of 41.1% (316 of 769) and they surrender 34.4 rebounds per game as a group. They surrender 32.9% from beyond the arc and they rank 121st in the country in opponents PPG (67.6).

The BYU Cougars played the St. Mary's Gaels and earned the victory with a final of 62-52 in their last game. BYU walked away from the game with a 44.6% FG percentage (25 of 56) and made 1 out of their 10 shots from beyond the arc. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Cougars knocked down 11 of 15 tries for a percentage of 73.3%. When discussing pulling down boards, they compiled a total of 32 with 7 of them being offensive. They also doled out 6 dimes in the matchup while earning 7 steals and 3 rejections. In regard to defense, BYU allowed 44.6% from the field on 25 of 56 shooting. St. Mary's distributed 7 dimes and had 5 steals for the matchup. Moreover, the Gaels grabbed 29 rebounds (5 offensive, 24 defensive) and had 3 blocked shots. St. Mary's went 61.5% from the charity stripe by making 8 of 13 tries. They made 6 of their 22 tries from three-point range.

Alex Barcello is one player who was a factor in the game. He accumulated 14 points on 6 of 10 shooting. He played 29 minutes played and snagged 2 boards. Barcello ended up going 60.0% from the floor and distributed 2 assists. Another guy that was a contributor in the game for the Cougars was Brandon Averette. He pulled down 2 rebounds and also had 3 dimes. He finished shooting 37.5% from the field in this contest by connecting on 3-of-8 (9 points). When the game finished, Averette was on the hardwood for 26 minutes.

San Francisco has a record of 9-6 for the season. San Francisco has accounted for 1,120 pts this year (74.7 per contest) and they collect 35.8 rebounds per game. The Dons are committing 20.5 personal fouls per game and they hit 71.7% from the charity stripe. In terms of offensive execution, the Dons are connecting on 44.1% from the floor, which is ranked 193rd in the nation. They are getting an assist 13.5 times per contest (174th in D-1) and they turn it over 13.3 times per game. The Dons on the defensive side of the court are 137th in college basketball in points allowed per game with 68.2. They are able to force 14.1 turnovers on a nightly basis and have allowed teams to shoot 42.0% from the field (134th in D-1). The San Francisco defense allows 27.4% on shots from distance (63 of 230) and their opponents are making 73.8% of their shots from the free throw line. They concede 10.1 dimes and 35.3 boards per contest, which is 33rd and 188th in Division 1.

The last time they took the hardwood, the San Francisco Dons walked away with a victory by a final of 79-63 when they played the Portland Pilots. The Dons corralled 31 defensive boards and 11 offensive rebounds totaling 42 for the contest. They rejected 5 tries while getting 5 steals in this matchup. The Pilots earned 14 personal fouls in this contest which took the Dons to the charity stripe for 6 shots. They were able to knock down 4 of the free throw attempts for a rate of 66.7%. In the matter of three-point shots, San Francisco made 13 of their 38 tries (34.2%). In all, the Dons shot 31 out of 65 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 47.7%. The Dons allowed the Pilots to knock down 18 out of 53 attempts from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 34.0% in this matchup. They finished the game shooting 21.1% from distance by going 4 out of 19 and finished the game at 23 of 25 at the free throw line (92.0%). In relation to attacking the glass, San Francisco allowed Portland to get 24 overall (4 on the offensive glass).

Jamaree Bouyea was important for the Dons in the game. He converted 12 of 19 for this contest for a rate of 63.2%, which earned him 28 points. Bouyea pulled down 2 rebounds in his 35 mins and had 2 assists in the matchup. One more player that ended being a contributor for San Francisco was Khalil Shabazz. He notched 13 points in his 32 minutes on the hardwood by way of 5 of 12 from the floor for this game. Shabazz ended up shooting 41.7% from the floor in addition to totaling 2 assists and 6 total rebounds.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take BYU (-1)

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