Southern Miss Golden Eagles vs UAB Blazers Prediction, 1/8/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Southern Miss Golden Eagles vs UAB Blazers

Date: Friday, January 8, 2021

Location: Bartow Arena in Birmingham, AL

TV: ESPN+

Odds/Point Spread: Southern Miss (+16)

The UAB Blazers (7-1) host the Southern Miss Golden Eagles (5-4) at Bartow Arena on Friday. The odds on this matchup have UAB as 16-point favorites. The O/U is set at 132.5.

Southern Miss enters this contest with a win-loss record of 5-4 for the year. They cough up possession 15.6 times per game and as a unit they are committing 15.8 fouls on a nightly basis. As a team, Southern Miss is pulling down 37.6 rebounds per game and has tallied 112 assists so far this season, which ranks 193rd in the country in terms of passing. The Golden Eagles are shooting 34.3% on 3-point shots (58 of 169) and 63.8% from the free throw line. They have an average of 64.4 pts per game (307th in the nation) while going 42.7% from the field. On defense, the Golden Eagles have forced 13.8 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 15.9 fouls. They surrender 31.3% on shots from beyond the arc while they are 33rd in the nation in points per game allowed (62.2). The Golden Eagles defense is allowing a FG percentage of 40.3% (195 of 484) and they relinquish 32.2 boards per game as a team. They are 119th in the nation in giving up assists to the opposition with 95 conceded this season.

The Southern Miss Golden Eagles stepped onto the hardwood against the UTEP Miners and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 77-62 in their last game. Southern Miss finished the contest with a 53.8% field goal percentage (21 out of 39) and made 3 of 7 three-point attempts. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Golden Eagles buried 17 of their 22 tries for a rate of 77.3%. In reference to grabbing rebounds, they earned 28 with 5 of them being on the offensive end. They also dished out 8 assists in this matchup in addition to getting 2 steals and 2 blocked shots. When talking about defending, Southern Miss let their opponent shoot 53.8% from the field on 21 out of 39 shooting. UTEP doled out 15 dimes and had 9 steals in the matchup. On top of that, the Miners pulled down 16 rebounds (3 offensive, 13 defensive) and had 2 blocks. UTEP went 76.5% from the free throw line by making 13 of their 17 tries. They also knocked down 10 out of their 22 tries from beyond the arc.

Jaron Pierre is one guy who was a factor in the matchup. He recorded 15 points on 5 out of 7 shooting. He played 30 minutes and also totaled 3 rebounds. Pierre finished the contest at 71.4% from the floor and earned 2 assists. Another guy that had an impact in this contest for the Golden Eagles was Tyler Stevenson. He grabbed 4 rebounds and also tallied 2 dimes. He finished the contest at 40.0% from the field for the game by connecting on 4-of-10 (10 points). Overall, Stevenson was on the hardwood for 37 minutes.

UAB has a win-loss record of 7-1 on the year. The Blazers are responsible for committing 18.1 fouls per contest and they hit 70.3% from the charity stripe. They are dishing out assists 9.1 times per contest (340th in college hoops) and they are giving up possession 11.5 times per game. UAB has scored 641 points this year (80.1 per game) and they collect 40.6 boards per contest. As an offense, the Blazers are shooting 47.8% from the field, which has them ranked 71st in the nation. The Blazers defensively are ranked 3rd in D-1 in points given up per game with 56.5. They give up 8.6 assists and 37.3 boards on a nightly basis, which is ranked 8th and 250th in those defensive categories. The UAB defense allows 22.8% on 3-pointers (39 of 171) and their opponents are making 63.7% of their foul shots. They are forcing their opponents into 18.0 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 34.4% from the floor (4th in college basketball).

The last time they took the court, the UAB Blazers took a loss by a score of 69-66 against the Chattanooga Mocs. The Blazers snagged 27 defensive rebounds and 12 offensive boards totaling 39 for the matchup. They also blocked 7 tries while recording 7 steals for this contest. The Mocs were called for 14 fouls in the matchup which got the Blazers to the charity stripe for a total of 9 attempts. They were able to make 5 of the free throw tries for a rate of 55.6%. Pertaining to three-point attempts, UAB knocked down 3 out of their 16 tries (18.8%). Overall, the Blazers ended up going 29 for 65 from the field which had them shooting 44.6%. The Blazers permitted the Mocs to bury 25 out of their 54 attempts from the field which gave them a rate of 46.3% in the game. They wrapped up this game 36.8% from beyond the arc via 7 out of 19 and ended up shooting 12 out of 17 at the free throw line (70.6%). In reference to how they attacked the glass, UAB permitted Chattanooga to pull down 31 in all (5 on the offensive side).

Michael Ertel ended up having an impact for the Blazers for this game. He knocked down 9 of 19 for this game giving him a rate of 47.4%, which had him sitting at 18 points. Ertel pulled down 6 boards in his 32 mins and had 2 assists in this game. One more player who was a determining factor for UAB was Jalen Benjamin. He accumulated 14 points in his 20 minutes on the hardwood by way of 5 out of 12 shooting for the contest. Benjamin walked away from this one going 41.7% from the floor in addition to earning 2 assists and 2 total rebounds.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take UAB (-16)

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