Providence Friars vs Creighton Bluejays Prediction, 1/20/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Providence Friars vs Creighton Bluejays

Date: Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Location: CHI Health Center Omaha in Omaha, NE

TV: FS1

Odds/Point Spread: Providence (+9.5)

The Providence Friars (7-6) are headed to CHI Health Center Omaha on Wednesday where they'll take on the Creighton Bluejays (10-3). The odds on this game have Creighton as 9.5-point favorites. The total has been set at 146.5.

Providence will enter this game with a win-loss mark of 7-6 on the year. The Friars are hitting 32.8% on 3-point shots (81 of 247) and 72.5% from the free throw line. They are averaging 74.2 points per outing (134th in college hoops) while hitting 45.2% from the field. They lose possession via turnover 11.4 times per game and as a basketball team are committing 17.2 fouls per contest. As a team, Providence is pulling down 35.2 rebounds per contest and is sitting with 192 assists so far this season, which is 75th in Division 1 in terms of passing. On the defensive end, the Friars are forcing 12.5 turnovers per contest and they draw 17.4 personal fouls. The Friars are allowing an opponent shooting percentage of 44.6% (341 of 764) and they concede 34.7 boards per game as a squad. They currently rank 267th in college basketball in allowing assists to their opponents with 174 relinquished on the year. They give up 33.3% on three-point shots and they are 222nd in D-1 in PPG allowed (71.8).

The Providence Friars faced the Marquette Golden Eagles and took a loss by a final of 79-69 in their last contest. Providence wrapped up the contest with a 40.7% FG percentage (24 out of 59) and made 9 of their 19 3-pointers. At the charity stripe, the Friars knocked down 12 of 15 attempts for a percentage of 80.0%. Concerning pulling down boards, they collected 28 with 8 of them being of the offensive sort. They also dished out 16 assists in the matchup as well as getting 6 steals and 2 rejections. With respect to the defense, Providence allowed their opponent to shoot 40.7% from the field on 24 out of 59 shooting. Marquette doled out 16 assists and had 7 steals in the matchup. Additionally, the Golden Eagles grabbed 36 rebounds (11 offensive, 25 defensive) and added 2 rejections. Marquette went 75.0% from the free throw line by converting 18 of their 24 tries. They knocked down 7 of their 24 attempts from distance.

Nate Watson is one player who was a contributor for the contest. He accounted for 18 points on 7 of 8 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 29 minutes played and collected 3 rebounds. Watson finished the contest at 87.5% from the floor and dished out 2 dimes. One more player that was a major factor in this matchup for the Friars was David Duke. He grabbed 3 rebounds and also earned 9 dimes. He finished the game shooting 27.8% from the field in this contest by hitting 5-of-18 (17 points). Overall, Duke saw the court for 40 minutes.

Creighton has a mark of 10-3 for the season. Creighton has accumulated 1,065 points for the year (81.9 per game) and they collect 37.2 boards per game. The Bluejays have committed 15.6 personal fouls per game and they shoot 66.2% from the charity stripe. When it comes to offensive execution, the Bluejays are connecting on 49.4% from the floor, which is ranked 34th in the country. Their rate of earning assists is at 17.4 times per contest (26th in the nation) and they cough up possession 11.4 times per contest. The Bluejays on the defensive side of the court are 146th in the country in points allowed per contest with 69.0. The Creighton defense concedes 33.6% on shots from beyond the perimeter (101 of 301) and their opponents are converting on 66.1% of their shots from the charity stripe. They allow 12.2 dimes and 37.1 boards every game, which has them ranked 131st and 262nd in those categories on the defensive end. They are forcing their opponents into 12.9 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 39.6% from the field (44th in college hoops).

The last time they took the court, the Creighton Bluejays walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 70-66 against the Butler Bulldogs. The Bluejays pulled down 29 defensive rebounds and 5 offensive rebounds for a total of 34 in the game. They blocked 6 shots while getting 4 steals for the game. The Bulldogs had 17 fouls for this contest which got the Bluejays to the charity stripe for a total of 14 attempts. They were able to make 10 of the free throw attempts for a percentage of 71.4%. In the matter of three-point attempts, Creighton made 6 of their 23 attempts (26.1%). When all was said and done, the Bluejays went 25 for 54 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 46.3%. The Bluejays permitted the Bulldogs to convert 24 out of their 64 tries from the field which gave them a percentage of 37.5% in the matchup. They shot 31.6% from behind the 3-point line via 6 out of 19 and ended up shooting 16 of 25 from the charity stripe (64.0%). When discussing how they cleaned up the glass, Creighton allowed Butler to get 34 overall (10 on the offensive side).

Denzel Mahoney ended up having an impact for the Bluejays for the game. He knocked down 10 out of 22 for the matchup giving him a rate of 45.5%, which had him finishing with 29 points. Mahoney pulled down 7 boards in his 40 mins and added 2 assists in this game. An additional guy that was important for Creighton was Damien Jefferson. He accumulated 12 points in 31 minutes played by way of 5 of 11 from the floor for this contest. Jefferson wrapped this one up going 45.5% from the floor in addition to contributing 2 assists and 3 boards.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Providence (+9.5)

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