FIU Panthers vs MTSU Blue Raiders Prediction, 1/8/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: FIU Panthers vs MTSU Blue Raiders

Date: Friday, January 8, 2021

Location: Murphy Athletic Center in Murfreesboro, TN

TV: ESPN+

Odds/Point Spread: FIU (+1.5)

Murphy Athletic Center is the venue where and the MTSU Blue Raiders (2-4) will play the FIU Panthers (7-3) on Friday. MTSU opens this game as 1.5-point favorites. The over/under has been set at 148.

FIU will enter this game with a win-loss mark of 7-3 for the campaign. They turn it over 14.7 times per game and as a basketball team are committing 19.2 personal fouls per game. As a unit, FIU is pulling down 36.4 boards per contest and has accumulated 176 dimes so far this year, which is 29th in D-1 in terms of passing. The Panthers are shooting 37.5% on shots from beyond the arc (131 of 349) and 68.9% from the charity stripe. They currently have an average of 85.7 points per outing (17th in the country) while hitting 46.1% from the field. On the defensive end of the court, the Panthers are able to force 18.9 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 17.3 personal fouls. They are currently ranked 176th in D-1 in allowing assists with 110 relinquished so far this season. The Panthers are giving up a FG percentage of 44.1% (265 of 601) and they relinquish 37.1 boards per contest as a squad. They give up 33.0% on shots from beyond the perimeter and they are 238th in D-1 in opponents PPG (72.6).

The FIU Panthers faced off with the Old Dominion Monarchs and took a loss by a score of 71-66 in their last game. FIU wrapped up the game with a 39.7% field goal percentage (23 of 58) and made 8 of their 31 3-point shots. From the charity stripe, the Panthers converted 12 of their 15 shots for a rate of 80.0%. With regard to hauling in rebounds, they compiled 32 with 12 of them being offensive. They also recorded 15 dimes for this contest while earning 9 steals and 2 blocks. In regard to defense, FIU allowed the other team to go 39.7% from the field on 23 out of 58 shooting. Old Dominion recorded 9 dimes and had 11 steals for the matchup. On top of that, the Monarchs had 29 rebounds (8 offensive, 21 defensive) and got 2 rejections. Old Dominion ended up going 75.9% from the charity stripe by making 22 of 29 attempts. They also made 7 of 17 tries from beyond the arc.

Radshad Davis is a player who was a factor in the matchup. He accumulated 18 points on 6 out of 12 shooting. He was on the court for 34 mins and grabbed 10 rebounds. Davis finished the game at 50.0% from the field and totaled 4 assists. Another guy that was a determining factor in the matchup for the Panthers was Eric Lovett. He snagged 2 rebounds and collected 3 assists. He finished 36.4% from the field for this game by shooting 4-of-11 (11 points). When the final whistle blew, Lovett played for 33 min.

MTSU has a record of 2-4 this year. The Blue Raiders commit 19.3 personal fouls per contest and they shoot 71.4% from the charity stripe. They are dishing out assists 10.2 times per game (325th in the nation) and they are turning it over 17.5 times per contest. MTSU has earned 377 pts for the season (62.8 per contest) and they pull down 36.8 rebounds per game. As an offense, the Blue Raiders are hitting on 37.2% from the field, which ranks them 344th in the nation. The Blue Raiders on defense are ranked 59th in college hoops in points per game surrendered with 64.2. The MTSU defense gives up 23.8% on 3-point shots (25 of 105) and their opponents are making 71.7% of their shots from the charity stripe. They give up 10.3 dimes and 36.3 boards every game, which is 35th and 220th in the nation. They are able to force 18.0 TO's per game and have let teams shoot 41.8% from the floor (140th in the country).

When they last stepped on the court, the MTSU Blue Raiders took a loss by a final score of 70-51 when they faced the Ole Miss Rebels. The Blue Raiders earned 20 defensive boards and 9 offensive boards for a total of 29 in this contest. They rejected 2 shots while recording 5 steals in this matchup. The Rebels were called for 19 fouls in this game which took the Blue Raiders to the free throw line for a total of 15 shots. They were able to convert 12 of the free throw attempts for a percentage of 80.0%. When talking about shots from downtown, MTSU made 5 out of their 22 tries (22.7%). When the final whistle blew, the Blue Raiders shot 17 for 57 from the field which gave them a rate of 29.8%. The Blue Raiders permitted the Rebels to bury 28 of their 51 tries from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 54.9% for this game. They shot 14.3% from three-point range by going 2 out of 14 and finished the game at 12 of 19 at the free throw line (63.2%). In regard to rebounding, MTSU allowed Ole Miss to snag 33 overall (4 offensive).

Dontrell Shuler ended up being a major contributor for the Blue Raiders in this game. He knocked down 7 of 17 in the game giving him a field goal percentage of 41.2%, which gave him 19 points. Shuler grabbed 2 rebounds in his 34 minutes played and totaled 2 dimes in this matchup. One more player that was important for MTSU was Tyler Millin. He totaled 12 points in 27 minutes on the court by way of 5 of 9 from the floor for this contest. Millin walked away from this one going 55.6% from the floor while also contributing 2 dimes and 8 rebounds.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take MTSU (-1.5)

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