Montana State Bobcats vs Northern Colorado Bears Prediction, 1/7/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Montana State Bobcats vs Northern Colorado Bears

Date: Thursday, January 7, 2021

Location: Bank of Colorado Arena in Greeley, CO

TV: ESPN+

Odds/Point Spread: Montana State (+2)

The Montana State Bobcats (3-3) go to Bank of Colorado Arena on Thursday where they'll take on the Northern Colorado Bears (5-4). Northern Colorado opens this game as 2-point favorites. The O/U opens at 132.5.

Montana State comes into this matchup with a record of 3-3 so far this season. The Bobcats are connecting on 37.5% on three-point shots (51 of 136) and 76.4% from the charity stripe. They are averaging 80.7 pts per game (52nd in college basketball) while hitting 44.7% from the field. They lose possession by turning the ball over 12.7 times per game and as a team they are committing 20.2 personal fouls per contest. As a team, Montana State is pulling down 37.2 rebounds per game and has accounted for 90 assists on the campaign, which ranks 257th in Division 1 in terms of passing the rock. Defensively, the Bobcats are able to force 14.5 turnovers per contest while drawing 20.8 fouls. They are ranked 39th in college basketball in giving up assists to the opposition with 65 surrendered on the season. The Bobcats defensively are giving up an opponent FG percentage of 39.5% (138 of 349) and they surrender 35.0 boards per game as a squad. They give up 33.8% on 3-point shots while they are 246th in D-1 in opponents points per game (72.8).

The Montana State Bobcats faced the Montana Western Bulldogs and earned the victory with a final of 96-67 in their last contest. Montana State finished the contest with a 48.8% FG percentage (39 of 80) and knocked down 9 out of their 25 shots from 3-point land. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Bobcats knocked down 9 of 12 attempts for a percentage of 75.0%. In regard to hauling in boards, they compiled a total of 41 with 14 of them being on the offensive end. They also recorded 21 assists in this game in addition to earning 3 steals and 2 rejections. Regarding the defense, Montana State allowed the other team to shoot 48.8% from the field on 39 out of 80 shooting. Montana Western recorded 12 dimes and had 2 steals for the game. In addition, the Bulldogs collected 22 rebounds (4 offensive, 18 defensive) and added 2 rejections. Montana Western finished the game shooting 72.2% from the free throw line by knocking down 13 of their 18 attempts. They buried 10 of 33 shots from beyond the perimeter.

Jubrile Belo is one player who was a major contributor for this contest. He racked up 19 points on 8 of 10 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 15 minutes and also grabbed 2 rebounds. Belo went 80.0% from the floor and also recorded 2 dimes. Someone else that came through in the game for the Bobcats was Amin Adamu. He collected 12 boards and also accounted for 4 assists. He walked away from this one shooting 61.5% from the floor in this game by going 8-of-13 (17 points). In all, Adamu played for 23 min.

Northern Colorado has a mark of 5-4 on the campaign. The Bears have committed 17.2 fouls every game and they hit 61.1% from the free throw line. They are assisting teammates 9.9 times per game (328th in Division 1) and they cough up possession 14.8 times per game. Northern Colorado has accounted for 591 pts for the year (65.7 per game) and they pull in 33.1 rebounds per contest. When it comes to offensive execution, the Bears are shooting 44.8% from the field, which is 178th in Division 1. The Bears on the defensive side of the court are 87th in D-1 in points given up per game with 65.8. The Northern Colorado defense allows 31.1% on shots from behind the 3-point line (33 of 106) and opponents are connecting on 75.0% of their foul shots. They allow 10.1 dimes and 31.7 boards on a nightly basis, which has them ranked 29th and 59th in college basketball. They have forced 11.9 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 43.6% from the floor (214th in D-1).

In their last game, the Northern Colorado Bears took a defeat with a final score of 56-54 against the Montana Grizzlies. The Bears earned 29 defensive boards and 6 offensive rebounds totaling 35 in this game. They also rejected 4 shots while earning 6 steals for the contest. The Grizzlies earned 15 personal fouls for the contest which got the Bears to the charity stripe for a total of 10 attempts. They were able to knock down 8 of those for a clip of 80.0%. When discussing three-point shots, Northern Colorado made 4 of their 15 tries (26.7%). Overall, the Bears walked away from this one shooting 21 out of 50 from the field which gave them a percentage of 42.0%. The Bears allowed the Grizzlies to convert 22 of their 62 attempts from the field which gave them a percentage of 35.5% for the game. They finished 20.0% from distance via 2 of 10 and ended up going 10 of 13 at the charity stripe (76.9%). In regard to how they cleaned up the glass, Northern Colorado allowed Montana to get 33 in total (10 on the offensive side).

Bodie Hume ended up being important for the Bears in this contest. He made 7 of 13 in the matchup giving him a rate of 53.8%, which had him sitting at 17 points. Hume grabbed 11 rebounds in his 33 minutes and tallied 2 dimes in the matchup. One more player that ended up playing a role for Northern Colorado was Matt Johnson. He notched 10 points in 35 minutes played via 3 of 7 from the floor in this game. Johnson ended up shooting 42.9% from the floor and also collecting 3 assists and 2 boards.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Northern Colorado (-2)

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