Marshall Thundering Herd vs Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Prediction, 1/15/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Marshall Thundering Herd vs Western Kentucky Hilltoppers

Date: Friday, January 15, 2021

Location: E.A. Diddie Arena in Bowling Green, KY

TV: CBSSN

Odds/Point Spread: Marshall (+1.5)

The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (9-4) host the Marshall Thundering Herd (7-2) at E.A. Diddie Arena on Friday. The odds on this game have Western Kentucky as 1.5-point favorites. The over/under is set at 151.5.

Marshall will enter this contest with a record of 7-2 on the season. The Thundering Herd are hitting 33.2% on three-point shots (80 of 241) and 74.8% from the free throw line. They average 80.3 pts per contest (42nd in D-1) while hitting 46.7% from the field. They turn it over 13.9 times per game and as a team are committing 17.8 fouls on a nightly basis. As a team, Marshall is pulling down 38.0 rebounds per contest and has racked up 148 dimes so far this season, which has them ranked 133rd in Division 1 in terms of passing the rock. On the defensive end, the Thundering Herd are able to force 15.3 turnovers per contest while drawing 16.8 personal fouls. They currently rank 87th in college basketball in allowing assists to the opposition with 99 conceded for the year. The Thundering Herd defense is giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 41.3% (229 of 554) and they concede 37.4 rebounds per game as a team. They give up 35.1% on shots from beyond the arc while they are 202nd in Division 1 in points per game allowed (71.2).

The Marshall Thundering Herd faced off with the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs and notched a win by a score of 80-73 in their last contest. Marshall finished with a 44.4% FG percentage (28 out of 63) and knocked down 10 of their 30 shots from beyond the arc. At the charity stripe, the Thundering Herd knocked down 14 of their 21 attempts for a rate of 66.7%. With respect to rebounding, they collected 37 with 10 of them being of the offensive sort. They also distributed 19 assists in this matchup as well as earning 5 steals and 2 blocked shots. When discussing defense, Marshall let their opponent shoot 44.4% from the floor on 28 of 63 shooting. Louisiana Tech doled out 5 assists and had 5 steals for the game. In addition, the Bulldogs grabbed 35 rebounds (9 offensive, 26 defensive) and earned 2 blocked shots. Louisiana Tech shot 70.0% at the charity stripe by making 21 of their 30 shots. They also converted 4 of 19 tries from three-point range.

Taevion Kinsey is a guy who was a major contributor in this game. He finished with 20 points on 5 of 10 shooting. He saw the court for 40 mins and also totaled 8 rebounds. Kinsey finished 50.0% from the field and recorded 5 dimes. An additional guy that played a role in the matchup for the Thundering Herd was Mikel Beyers. He pulled down 5 boards and also earned 2 dimes. He ended up going 50.0% from the field for this game by connecting on 6-of-12 (17 points). At the conclusion of this game, Beyers played 21 min.

Western Kentucky has a record of 9-4 on the campaign. The Hilltoppers are committing 16.7 personal fouls every game and they shoot 79.7% from the charity stripe. They are dishing out assists 13.2 times per contest (193rd in the nation) and they cough up possession 13.9 times per contest. Western Kentucky has scored 959 points for the season (73.8 per contest) and they pull in 37.8 boards per game. When it comes to offensive execution, the Hilltoppers are connecting on 44.3% from the floor, which has them ranked 189th in the nation. The Hilltoppers on defense are ranked 199th in college basketball in points per game surrendered with 71.0. They are forcing 14.2 turnovers on a nightly basis and have let teams shoot 44.6% from the field (244th in D-1). The Western Kentucky defense gives up 38.7% on three-point shots (106 of 274) and opponents are connecting on 72.6% of their foul shots. They concede 12.9 dimes and 30.5 rebounds per game, which has them ranked 180th and 30th in college basketball.

In their last game, the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 63-58 when they played the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs. The Hilltoppers earned 21 defensive boards and 10 offensive rebounds totaling 31 in the game. They also turned away 3 attempts while getting 6 steals for this game. The Bulldogs earned 14 personal fouls in this game which got the Hilltoppers to the free throw line for a total of 13 attempts. They were able to bury 12 of the free throw attempts for a percentage of 92.3%. In reference to three-point attempts, Western Kentucky converted 8 out of 21 tries (38.1%). When all was said and done, the Hilltoppers shot 19 for 54 from the field which had them shooting 35.2%. The Hilltoppers allowed the Bulldogs to bury 25 of their 52 attempts from the floor which gave them a percentage of 48.1% in the game. They shot 33.3% from 3-point land by shooting 4 of 12 and ended up going 9 out of 13 from the free throw line (69.2%). When discussing rebounding, Western Kentucky permitted Louisiana Tech to snag 28 in total (6 offensive).

Taveion Hollingsworth was important for the Hilltoppers for this game. He knocked down 3 out of 14 in the game giving him a field goal percentage of 21.4%, which gave him 16 points. Hollingsworth totaled 6 boards in his 35 minutes and had 2 dimes in this game. An additional guy who came through for Western Kentucky was Charles Bassey. He notched 14 points in his 32 minutes played via 6 out of 11 from the floor for this game. Bassey walked away from this one going 54.5% from the field and also earning 2 dimes and 13 boards.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Marshall (+1.5)

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