Cleveland State Vikings vs Houston Cougars Prediction, 3/19/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Cleveland State Vikings vs Houston Cougars

Date: Friday, March 19, 2021

Location: Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington, IN

TV: TRUTV

Odds/Point Spread: Cleveland State (+19)

Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall is the venue where and the Houston Cougars (24-3) will take on the Cleveland State Vikings (19-7) on Friday in the NCAA Tournament. The line on this contest has Houston as 19-point favorites. The O/U opens at 134.5.

Cleveland State steps onto the hardwood with a mark of 19-7 so far this year. They average 71.5 points per game (172nd in Division 1) while going 45.2% from the field. The Vikings are hitting 31.9% on shots beyond the perimeter (166 of 520) and 66.9% from the charity stripe. As a unit, Cleveland State is pulling down 35.0 rebounds per game and has tallied 363 dimes this year, which ranks 80th in Division 1 in terms of passing. They lose possession by turning the ball over 12.8 times per contest and as a team are committing 19.2 fouls on a nightly basis. When they are on defense, the Vikings are forcing their opponents into 14.0 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 16.6 fouls. They currently rank 237th in Division 1 in giving up assists to their opponents with 330 relinquished on the year. The Vikings defense is allowing a FG percentage of 42.3% (622 of 1,471) and they surrender 35.3 boards per game as a team. They give up 30.8% on 3-pointers while they are 188th in D-1 in opponents points per game (70.6).

The Cleveland State Vikings took the court against the Oakland Golden Grizzlies and notched a win by a score of 80-69 in their last contest. Cleveland State finished having earned a 51.4% FG percentage (36 out of 70) and converted 3 of their 15 shots from 3-point land. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Vikings buried 5 of 9 attempts for a rate of 55.6%. Regarding grabbing rebounds, they compiled 37 with 7 of them being on the offensive end. They also distributed 20 assists for the matchup as well as forcing 14 turnovers and getting 8 steals. In relation to defending, Cleveland State let their opponent shoot 34.4% from the field on 21 out of 61 shooting. Oakland totaled 14 assists and had 7 steals for the contest. On top of that, Oakland snagged 35 rebounds (9 offensive, 26 defensive) and earned 2 rejections. Oakland finished the contest at 94.1% from the free throw line by burying 16 of their 17 attempts. They knocked down 11 out of their 38 attempts from beyond the perimeter.

Torrey Patton is one guy who was a contributor in the game. He scored 23 points on 9 of 16 shooting. He was on the court for 38 mins and collected 10 rebounds. Patton finished 56.3% from the field and earned 4 dimes. One more player that was a major contributor in this matchup for the Vikings was Tre Gomillion. He grabbed 13 rebounds in his 38 minutes on the court. He finished the contest at 50.0% from the floor in the matchup by going 8-of-16 (16 points). Overall, Gomillion earned 3 assists.

Houston has a mark of 24-3 this year. Houston has tallied 2,096 pts on the campaign (77.6 per contest) and they average 41.1 rebounds per game. The Cougars are committing 18.7 fouls per game and they hit 74.1% from the free throw line. When it comes to offensive execution, the Cougars are connecting on 44.4% from the floor, which is 163rd in the country. Their rate of earning assists is at 14.1 times per contest (105th in the country) and they are giving up possession 10.9 times per contest. The Cougars on the defensive end are ranked 2nd in the nation in points per game surrendered with 57.9. The Houston defense allows 27.5% from downtown (146 of 531) and opponents are converting on 65.9% of their foul shots. They relinquish 10.0 assists and 32.0 rebounds per game, which is 18th and 52nd in Division 1. They have forced 14.6 turnovers on a nightly basis and allow teams to shoot 37.0% from the field (1st in college hoops).

The last time they took the court, the Houston Cougars walked away with a victory by a final of 91-54 when they faced the Cincinnati Bearcats. The Cougars snagged 26 defensive boards and 10 offensive boards totaling 36 for this game. They turned the ball over 6 times, while getting 8 steals in this matchup. The Bearcats earned 12 personal fouls for the matchup which got the Cougars to the charity stripe for a total of 7 tries. They were able to convert 6 of those for a rate of 85.7%. When discussing shooting from 3-point land, Houston converted 11 of their 23 tries (47.8%). When the game finished, the Cougars finished the game shooting 37 for 66 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 56.1%. The Cougars allowed the Bearcats to convert 18 of 65 tries from the floor which had them at 27.7% in this contest. They finished 24.2% from beyond the arc by going 8 out of 33 and ended up shooting 10 of 15 from the free throw line (66.7%). In reference to rebounding, Houston allowed Cincinnati to collect 31 in all (14 on the offensive glass).

Quentin Grimes was important for the Cougars for this contest. He knocked down 8 out of 12 for the game for a rate of 66.7%, and tallied 3 rebounds. Grimes earned 21 points in his 21 mins of playing time and accounted for 1 assist for the contest. One more player that was important for Houston was Marcus Sasser. He finished this one with 1 assist in his 30 minutes played, and he shot 6 of 11 from the floor. Sasser ended up shooting 54.5% from the floor while also earning 16 points and 3 total rebounds.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Cleveland State (+19)

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