Creighton Bluejays vs Providence Friars Prediction, 1/2/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Creighton Bluejays vs Providence Friars

Date: Saturday, January 2, 2021

Location: Alumni Hall in Providence, RI

TV: FOX

Odds/Point Spread: Creighton (-3.5)

Alumni Hall is the site where and the Providence Friars (7-3) will take on the Creighton Bluejays (7-2) on Saturday. Creighton opens this contest as 3.5-point favorites. The over/under opens at 146.

Creighton will take the court with a record of 7-2 for the season. They are averaging 82.9 pts per game (39th in college hoops) on 48.8% from the field. The Bluejays are hitting 37.0% on 3-pointers (91 of 246) and 66.9% from the charity stripe. As a team, Creighton is pulling down 38.1 boards per game and has 160 assists this year, which ranks 22nd in college basketball in terms of passing the ball. They are turning it over 11.0 times per game and as a squad they commit 15.2 fouls per game. On the defensive end, the Bluejays are forcing 13.1 turnovers per game and they draw 16.7 fouls. They are currently ranked 266th in the country in allowing assists to the opposition with 118 conceded on the campaign. The Bluejays are allowing an opponent shooting percentage of 40.2% (230 of 572) and they concede 37.0 rebounds per game as a basketball team. They are surrendering 34.1% on three-point shots and they are ranked 163rd in college basketball in points per game allowed (70.0).

The Creighton Bluejays stepped onto the hardwood against the Xavier Musketeers and notched a win by a score of 66-61 in their last game. Creighton walked away from the contest having earned a 35.5% field goal percentage (22 of 62) and converted 8 of their 28 shots from distance. From the free throw line, the Bluejays buried 14 of their 20 tries for a percentage of 70.0%. When talking about grabbing rebounds, they collected 41 with 7 of them being offensive. They also dished out 10 assists in the game in addition to earning 4 steals and 6 rejections. In terms of defending, Creighton allowed the other team to go 35.5% from the field on 22 out of 62 shooting. Xavier totaled 10 assists and had 4 steals for this game. Additionally, the Musketeers collected 38 boards (5 offensive, 33 defensive) and earned 6 rejections. Xavier finished shooting 71.4% from the free throw line by knocking down 5 of their 7 attempts. They knocked down 8 of 32 tries from 3-point land.

Denzel Mahoney is a guy who came through for the contest. He left the arena with 13 points on 4 out of 9 shooting. He played for 31 minutes and snagged 5 rebounds. Mahoney finished the game at 44.4% from the floor and also recorded 2 assists. One more player that played a role in this contest for the Bluejays was Antwann Jones. He grabbed 4 rebounds and accumulated 2 assists. He finished the contest at 50.0% from the floor for the matchup by shooting 4-of-8 (13 points). Overall, Jones was on the court for 13 min.

Providence has a record of 7-3 on the season. As an offensive unit, the Friars are connecting on 46.3% from the field, which is ranked 127th in D-1. Providence has earned 757 points on the campaign (75.7 per game) and they pull in 35.2 rebounds per contest. They are assisting teammates 14.6 times per contest (122nd in college basketball) and they are turning it over 11.0 times per contest. The Friars are committing 17.7 personal fouls per contest and they go 73.2% from the charity stripe. The Friars on defense are ranked 202nd in college basketball in points given up per game with 71.4. They have conceded 12.4 dimes and 34.2 rebounds every game, which has them ranked 146th and 134th in those defensive categories. The Providence defense allows 33.5% on shots from beyond the perimeter (67 of 200) and their opposition knocks down 70.9% of their free throw attempts. They are forcing 12.9 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 44.3% from the floor (226th in college basketball).

In their last game, the Providence Friars took home the win by a final score of 71-55 when they played the Butler Bulldogs. The Friars were able to pull down 26 defensive boards and 4 offensive boards totaling 30 in the game. They also turned away 3 shots while recording 5 steals for this contest. The Bulldogs committed 12 personal fouls for the game which took the Friars to the free throw line for a total of 12 attempts. They were able to bury 9 of the free throws for a clip of 75.0%. Concerning shots from downtown, Providence made 6 of their 13 attempts (46.2%). When the final whistle blew, the Friars went 28 out of 48 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 58.3%. The Friars permitted the Bulldogs to knock down 21 of their 61 tries from the field which left them with a shooting percentage of 34.4% for this game. They finished the game shooting 26.9% from downtown by shooting 7 of 26 and ended up shooting 6 of 10 from the charity stripe (60.0%). In the matter of how they rebounded, Providence allowed Butler to snag 28 overall (12 offensive).

David Duke ended up having an impact for the Friars in the game. He made 9 out of 11 for this game for a field goal percentage of 81.8%, which had him finishing with 22 points. Duke grabbed 13 rebounds in his 39 minutes and tallied 8 dimes in this matchup. One more player who came through for Providence was Nate Watson. He left the arena with 18 points in 36 minutes on the hardwood via 9 out of 12 from the floor in the game. Watson ended up shooting 75.0% from the floor in addition to collecting 2 assists and 6 total rebounds.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Providence (+3.5)

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