Kent State Golden Flashes vs Ball State Cardinals Prediction, 2/24/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Kent State Golden Flashes vs Ball State Cardinals

Date: Wednesday, February 24, 2021

Location: Worthen Arena in Muncie, IN

TV: ESPN3

Odds/Point Spread: Kent State (-3.5)

The Kent State Golden Flashes (14-5) travel to Worthen Arena on Wednesday where they'll meet the Ball State Cardinals (7-11). Kent State opens this contest as 3.5-point favorites. The over/under opens at 145.5.

Kent State will play this contest with a mark of 14-5 on the campaign. They have an average of 78.9 points per outing (40th in the nation) while hitting 45.0% from the floor. The Golden Flashes are shooting 33.8% on shots from 3-point land (161 of 477) and 78.3% from the charity stripe. As a unit, Kent State is pulling in 40.2 boards per contest and is sitting with 286 dimes for the year, which ranks 117th in Division 1 in terms of passing. They turn it over 13.5 times per game and as a squad they commit 16.9 personal fouls on a nightly basis. On the defensive end of the court, the Golden Flashes are forcing their opponents into 12.9 turnovers per game while drawing 16.9 fouls. They rank 145th in D-1 in giving up assists with 235 conceded on the year. The Golden Flashes defensively are allowing a field goal percentage of 40.9% (474 of 1,159) and they concede 33.6 rebounds per game as a unit. They surrender 33.3% on 3-pointers and they are 175th in D-1 in opponents PPG (69.9).

The Kent State Golden Flashes played the Eastern Michigan Eagles and earned the victory with a final of 64-51 in their last game. Kent State wrapped up the contest having earned a 45.3% field goal percentage (24 of 53) and knocked down 8 out of their 25 3-pointers. At the charity stripe, the Golden Flashes converted 8 of their 11 shots for a rate of 72.7%. In regard to getting rebounds, they compiled a total of 37 with 10 of them being on the offensive end. They also doled out 20 assists for the game as well as earning 6 steals and 4 blocks. Pertaining to defense, Kent State allowed the other team to go 45.3% from the floor on 24 out of 53 shooting. Eastern Michigan recorded 9 assists and had 11 steals in the game. Furthurmore, the Eagles snagged 22 rebounds (4 offensive, 18 defensive) and had 4 blocks. Eastern Michigan finished the game at 80.0% from the charity stripe by converting 8 of 10 attempts. They also knocked down 5 of 19 tries from distance.

Danny Pippen is a player who came through for this contest. He walked away with 25 points on 10 of 21 shooting. He played 34 minutes and collected 10 rebounds. Pippen finished the game shooting 47.6% from the field and also recorded 9 dimes. An additional guy that was a major factor in this contest for the Golden Flashes was Giovanni Santiago. He pulled down 4 boards and also had 7 assists. He walked away from this one shooting 40.0% from the field in the matchup by shooting 4-of-10 (12 points). Overall, Santiago played for 40 min.

Ball State has a record of 7-11 for the season. Ball State has 1,273 points so far this season (70.7 per contest) and they collect 36.1 boards per contest. The Cardinals commit 19.0 fouls per game and they shoot 72.8% from the charity stripe. When it comes to offensive execution, the Cardinals are shooting 43.0% from the floor, which ranks 236th in college basketball. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 13.0 times per contest (195th in the nation) and they cough up possession 14.6 times per contest. The Cardinals on defense are ranked 265th in the nation in points allowed per game with 73.8. They are forcing 12.9 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 42.8% from the floor (158th in college basketball). The Ball State defense surrenders 30.4% on shots from 3-point land (124 of 408) and opponents are making 69.2% of their free throw attempts. They have allowed 12.6 dimes and 38.2 boards on a nightly basis, which is ranked 149th and 308th in those categories on the defensive end.

In their last game, the Ball State Cardinals took a defeat with a final score of 88-79 when they faced the Akron Zips. The Cardinals snagged 19 defensive boards and 9 offensive boards totaling 28 in the game. They also rejected 2 tries while recording 5 steals in this matchup. The Zips earned 18 personal fouls for this game which got the Cardinals to the charity stripe for a total of 9 attempts. They were able to knock down 9 of those for a clip of 100.0%. In the matter of shooting from distance, Ball State made 8 of their 21 tries (38.1%). In all, the Cardinals went 31 for 65 from the field which had them shooting 47.7%. The Cardinals permitted the Zips to convert 30 out of 58 tries from the field which had them shooting 51.7% for the contest. They shot 45.0% from 3-point land by going 9 out of 20 and ended up going 19 out of 25 at the free throw line (76.0%). In the matter of rebounding, Ball State permitted Akron to snag 29 overall (6 offensive).

Ishmael El-Amin was important for the Cardinals for this contest. He converted 8 out of 23 in the game giving him a rate of 34.8%, which gave him 20 points. El-Amin collected 3 boards in his 34 mins played and added 2 assists in the game. An additional guy who was a determining factor for Ball State was Brachen Hazen. He finished with 18 points in 27 minutes on the hardwood via 8 out of 14 from the floor for the matchup. Hazen ended the game having shot 57.1% from the floor in addition to collecting 3 assists and 4 boards.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Kent State (-3.5)

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