Drake Bulldogs vs USC Trojans Prediction, 3/20/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Drake Bulldogs vs USC Trojans

Date: Saturday, March 20, 2021

Location: Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, IN

TV: TNT

Odds/Point Spread: Drake (+6.5)

Bankers Life Fieldhouse is the site where and the USC Trojans (22-7) will play the Drake Bulldogs (26-4) on Saturday in the NCAA Tournament. The odds on this matchup have USC as 6.5-point favorites. The O/U opens at 138.5.

Drake enters this matchup with a mark of 26-4 on the year. The Bulldogs are shooting 37.0% on 3-pointers (211 of 571) and 71.0% from the charity stripe. They have an average of 76.6 points per outing (58th in D-1) while shooting 49.1% from the field. They lose possession via turnover 10.4 times per game and as a basketball team are committing 15.7 personal fouls per contest. As a unit, Drake is pulling in 36.0 rebounds per game and has racked up 412 dimes for the season, which is 27th in D-1 in terms of passing the rock. When they are on defense, the Bulldogs are forcing their opponents into 12.8 turnovers per game while drawing 14.2 fouls. The Bulldogs are giving up a field goal percentage of 41.9% (696 of 1,660) and they relinquish 31.1 rebounds per game as a basketball team. They currently rank 199th in D-1 in giving up assists with 316 relinquished on the campaign. They are surrendering 31.2% on 3-pointers and they are ranked 38th in college hoops in PPG allowed (64.2).

The Drake Bulldogs stepped onto the hardwood against the Wichita State Shockers and earned the victory with a final of 53-52 in their last contest. Drake ended the contest having earned a 37.7% FG percentage (20 of 53) and made 7 out of their 19 3-pointers. From the free throw line, the Bulldogs buried 6 of their 10 attempts for a rate of 60.0%. Regarding grabbing rebounds, they earned 32 with 5 of them being of the offensive variety. They also dished out 13 assists for this game while forcing the opposition into 8 turnovers and earning 4 steals. Regarding defending, Drake allowed the other team to go 33.9% from the field on 19 out of 56 shooting. Wichita State recorded 7 dimes and had 7 steals for the contest. Furthurmore, Wichita State snagged 33 rebounds (10 offensive, 23 defensive) and got 7 blocks. Wichita State finished shooting 50.0% at the free throw line by converting 11 of 22 attempts. They also converted 3 out of their 18 attempts from distance.

Joseph Yesufu is someone who was a major contributor in this matchup. He was able to score 21 points on 8 of 21 shooting. He was on the court for 40 mins and also collected 2 rebounds. Yesufu shot 38.1% from the floor and totaled 3 assists. An additional guy that was a contributor in the game for the Bulldogs was Tremell Murphy. He collected 4 rebounds in his 34 minutes on the court. He finished the game shooting 40.0% from the floor for this game by connecting on 4-of-10 (11 points). When the game finished, Murphy accounted for 2 assists.

USC has a win-loss mark of 22-7 on the campaign. USC has totaled 2,168 points for the campaign (74.8 per contest) and they collect 39.5 boards per game. The Trojans have committed 15.5 fouls per contest and they connect on 64.7% from the charity stripe. As an offense, the Trojans are hitting on 46.7% from the floor, which is 62nd in the country. They are dishing out assists 13.7 times per game (136th in the nation) and they are turning it over 12.4 times per game. The Trojans on the defensive side of the court are 49th in the nation in PPG given up with 65.1. They are forcing 12.0 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 39.4% from the field (15th in the country). The USC defense gives up 34.2% on shots from beyond the arc (209 of 612) and opponents are knocking down 72.8% of their free throw shots. They have surrendered 12.4 dimes and 32.3 boards per game, which ranks them 134th and 61st in college basketball.

The last time they took the hardwood, the USC Trojans walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 72-70 when they played the Colorado Buffaloes. The Trojans were able to collect 21 defensive rebounds and 8 offensive rebounds for a total of 29 in the game. They also coughed up the ball 10 times, while getting 3 steals in this matchup. The Buffaloes committed 13 personal fouls in this matchup which got the Trojans to the charity stripe for 12 attempts. They were able to knock down 6 of those for a rate of 50.0%. With respect to shooting from beyond the arc, USC made 8 of their 17 attempts (47.1%). When this game wrapped up, the Trojans finished the game shooting 28 for 54 from the floor which had them shooting 51.9%. The Trojans permitted the Buffaloes to make 26 of 61 attempts from the floor which had them at 42.6% in this game. They finished 50.0% from downtown by shooting 12 out of 24 and walked away from this one shooting 8 out of 10 at the charity stripe (80.0%). Concerning cleaning the glass, USC allowed Colorado to snag 32 in all (10 on the offensive glass).

Evan Mobley ended up having an impact for the Trojans in this matchup. He knocked down 11 of 16 for the game giving him a rate of 68.8%, and had 9 rebounds. Mobley racked up 26 points in his 39 minutes of playing time and accounted for 3 dimes for the game. One more player that was important for USC was Tahj Eaddy. He came away with 5 dimes in his 34 mins played, and he knocked down 4 of 9 from the floor. Eaddy ended up shooting 44.4% from the floor while totaling 11 points and 5 rebounds.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take USC (-6.5)

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