UCF Knights vs Wichita State Shockers Prediction, 1/30/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: UCF Knights vs Wichita State Shockers

Date: Saturday, January 30, 2021

Location: Charles Koch Arena in Wichita, KS

TV: ESPNU

Odds/Point Spread: UCF (+5.5)

The Wichita State Shockers (8-4) play the UCF Knights (4-6) at Charles Koch Arena on Saturday. Wichita State opens this contest as 5.5-point favorites. The O/U is set at 135.

UCF steps onto the court with a record of 4-6 on the year. They average 64.6 points per contest (314th in Division 1) on 40.8% from the floor. The Knights are shooting 34.9% on shots from beyond the arc (68 of 195) and 72.8% from the free throw line. As a team, UCF is grabbing 34.0 rebounds per contest and has accumulated 104 dimes on the year, which has them ranked 320th in college hoops in terms of passing. They are turning it over 13.9 times per game and as a squad they are committing 17.7 fouls on a nightly basis. Defensively, the Knights are forcing 13.3 turnovers per game and they draw 17.6 personal fouls. The Knights defensively are giving up a field goal percentage of 43.2% (245 of 567) and they relinquish 36.3 boards per game as a group. They currently rank 66th in D-1 in allowing assists to the opposition with 133 surrendered for the season. They give up 31.7% on 3-point attempts and they rank 149th in the country in PPG from their opponents (68.9).

The UCF Knights faced off with the East Carolina Pirates and walked away with a win by a score of 71-64 in their last game. UCF ended the game having earned a 45.1% FG percentage (23 of 51) and made 10 of their 23 shots from beyond the perimeter. At the charity stripe, the Knights converted 15 of their 22 shots for a rate of 68.2%. Pertaining to hauling in boards, they earned 30 with 7 of them being of the offensive variety. They also doled out 12 assists in the matchup while getting 9 steals and 2 blocked shots. With regard to defense, UCF allowed their opponent to shoot 45.1% from the field on 23 out of 51 shooting. East Carolina totaled 11 assists and had 6 steals in this matchup. Furthurmore, the Pirates collected 31 boards (11 offensive, 20 defensive) and got 2 rejections. East Carolina finished the contest at 47.1% at the free throw line by knocking down 8 of 17 attempts. They also made 4 out of their 20 shots from three-point range.

Darin Green is a guy who was a contributor for this contest. He ended up finishing with 18 points on 6 out of 12 shooting. He played for 33 minutes played and also collected 6 rebounds. ended up shooting 50.0% from the field and recorded 3 dimes. One more player that was a determining factor in the matchup for the Knights was Darius Perry. He snagged 6 boards and totaled 3 assists. He went 36.4% from the floor for the matchup by hitting 4-of-11 (13 points). At the conclusion of this game, Perry played 31 min.

Wichita State has a win-loss mark of 8-4 so far this year. Wichita State has scored 868 pts for the campaign (72.3 per game) and they snag 40.8 boards per contest. The Shockers are responsible for committing 16.3 personal fouls per contest while shooting 67.4% from the free throw line. As an offensive unit, the Shockers are hitting on 39.9% from the field, which is 329th in the nation. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 12.4 times per contest (242nd in the nation) and they turn it over 11.6 times per contest. The Shockers are ranked 106th in college hoops in PPG surrendered with 67.6. They are able to force 13.3 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 39.3% from the floor (25th in the nation). The Wichita State defense surrenders 29.3% on three-point shots (87 of 297) and their opponents are knocking down 66.0% of their shots from the charity stripe. They relinquish 13.3 dimes and 41.4 rebounds every game, which ranks 208th and 338th in college hoops.

In their last game, the Wichita State Shockers took a defeat with a final score of 72-52 when they faced the Memphis Tigers. The Shockers collected 23 defensive boards and 11 offensive rebounds for a total of 34 for this contest. They also blocked 3 shots while getting 5 steals for this game. The Tigers were called for 19 fouls for the contest which took the Shockers to the free throw line for a total of 18 tries. They were able to bury 10 of the free throw tries for a clip of 55.6%. With respect to shots from 3-point land, Wichita State buried 2 of their 23 tries (8.7%). When the final whistle blew, the Shockers ended up going 20 for 68 from the floor which gave them a rate of 29.4%. The Shockers allowed the Tigers to convert 28 of their 61 tries from the field which gave them a rate of 45.9% in this matchup. They went 61.1% from beyond the perimeter by shooting 11 out of 18 and ended up going 5 out of 6 from the free throw line (83.3%). In relation to rebounding, Wichita State permitted Memphis to grab 43 in all (10 on the offensive side).

Morris Udeze was important for the Shockers for the matchup. He made 5 of 7 for the game for a field goal rate of 71.4%, which had him finishing with 10 points. Udeze collected 3 boards in his 23 mins and tallied 2 assists in this game. An additional guy that ended being a contributor for Wichita State was Alterique Gilbert. He totaled 9 points in 25 minutes on the court by going 4 of 11 from the floor for this contest. Gilbert walked away from this one going 36.4% from the floor while earning 4 assists and 2 rebounds.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take UCF (+5.5)

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