Nevada Wolf Pack vs New Mexico Lobos Prediction, 1/2/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Nevada Wolf Pack vs New Mexico Lobos

Date: Saturday, January 2, 2021

Location: Dreamstyle Arena in Albuquerque, NM

TV: CBSSN

Odds/Point Spread: Nevada (-5)

The Nevada Wolf Pack (6-3) go to Dreamstyle Arena on Saturday where they'll take on the New Mexico Lobos (3-2). New Mexico opens this game as 5-point underdogs. The O/U has been set at 143.

Nevada will play this contest with a win-loss record of 6-3 on the year. They are giving up possession 14.2 times per contest and as a unit are committing 18.1 fouls on a nightly basis. As a team, Nevada is grabbing 38.6 boards per game and has 130 assists on the year, which has them ranked 73rd in the nation in terms of passing the rock. The Wolf Pack are shooting 33.5% on three-point attempts (65 of 194) and 70.9% from the charity stripe. They have an average of 71.4 points per contest (209th in the country) on 44.4% from the floor. Defensively, the Wolf Pack are able to force 12.6 turnovers per contest and they draw 18.9 fouls. They are currently ranked 275th in college hoops in allowing assists to the opposition with 121 surrendered for the year. The Wolf Pack are giving up a shooting percentage of 39.3% (205 of 521) and they surrender 33.9 boards per contest as a group. They are conceding 31.7% from 3-point land and they are ranked 122nd in college basketball in PPG allowed (67.2).

The Nevada Wolf Pack faced off with the Air Force Falcons and ended up losing by a score of 68-66 in their last game. Nevada finished the game with a 42.6% field goal percentage (23 of 54) and converted 2 of their 24 3-point shots. At the charity stripe, the Wolf Pack knocked down 18 of their 26 shots for a rate of 69.2%. With regard to hauling in rebounds, they compiled 31 with 11 of them being on the offensive end. They also recorded 14 assists for the contest in addition to having 6 steals and 2 rejections. In reference to defense, Nevada allowed 42.6% from the floor on 23 out of 54 shooting. Air Force distributed 16 assists and had 9 steals in this contest. Moreover, the Falcons pulled down 23 boards (4 offensive, 19 defensive) and had 2 blocked shots. Air Force finished the game shooting 88.9% at the charity stripe by knocking down 16 of 18 tries. They also converted 6 out of their 19 tries from 3-point range.

Zane Meeks is one guy who played a role for the contest. He racked up 18 points on 5 of 11 shooting. He played for 34 minutes and snagged 8 rebounds. Meeks ended up going 45.5% from the floor and also earned 2 dimes. One more player that was a factor in this matchup for the Wolf Pack was Grant Sherfield. He snagged 2 rebounds and also accounted for 4 assists. He finished shooting 33.3% from the field in this contest by hitting 4-of-12 (10 points). When the final whistle was blown, Sherfield played for 29 min.

New Mexico has a record of 3-2 on the season. The Lobos have committed 13.8 fouls per game and they go 61.0% from the free throw line. They are earning an assist 12.0 times per game (261st in the country) and they are giving up possession 15.0 times per contest. New Mexico has earned 371 pts for the season (74.2 per game) and they snag 46.2 rebounds per contest. As an offensive team, the Lobos are shooting 44.2% from the floor, which ranks 199th in D-1. The Lobos defensively are ranked 168th in college basketball in PPG allowed with 70.0. They have forced 13.2 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 42.1% from the field (164th in the nation). The New Mexico defense surrenders 34.7% from downtown (50 of 144) and their opponents are converting on 65.6% of their free throw attempts. They concede 15.2 assists and 30.8 boards on a nightly basis, which ranks them 274th and 43rd in the country.

When they last played, the New Mexico Lobos took a defeat with a final score of 89-52 against the Boise State Broncos. The Lobos were able to collect 16 defensive boards and 7 offensive boards totaling 23 for the contest. They also stuffed 2 tries while getting 4 steals in this contest. The Broncos were called for 20 personal fouls for this contest which took the Lobos to the free throw line for a total of 21 shots. They were able to bury 15 of the free throws for a percentage of 71.4%. When talking about shots from 3-point land, New Mexico converted 1 out of their 9 tries (11.1%). When the game finished, the Lobos finished 18 for 54 from the floor which had them shooting 33.3%. The Lobos permitted the Broncos to convert 36 of their 60 tries from the field which left them shooting 60.0% for this game. They shot 50.0% from three-point range by shooting 11 out of 22 and ended up going 6 out of 9 at the free throw line (66.7%). In relation to attacking the glass, New Mexico allowed Boise State to pull down 34 in all (6 on the offensive glass).

Makuach Maluach ended up being a major contributor for the Lobos for the game. He made 2 of 10 for the game giving him a field goal percentage of 20.0%, which earned him 8 points. Maluach collected 4 rebounds in his 25 minutes and accounted for 2 assists for this game. An additional guy who came through for New Mexico was Rod Brown. He accumulated 8 points in his 21 minutes on the court by way of 4 out of 7 from the floor in this contest. Brown walked away from this one going 57.1% from the field while also contributing 2 assists and 3 rebounds.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take New Mexico (+5)

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