UMass Minutemen vs VCU Rams Prediction, 1/27/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: UMass Minutemen vs VCU Rams

Date: Wednesday, January 27, 2021

Location: Stuart C. Siegel Center in Richmond, VA

TV: ESPN+

Odds/Point Spread: UMass (+8.5)

The VCU Rams (11-4) host the UMass Minutemen (5-4) at Stuart C. Siegel Center on Wednesday. VCU opens this game as 8.5-point favorites. The over/under opens at 146.5.

UMass heads into this matchup with a record of 5-4 so far this season. They currently have an average of 80.2 points per outing (41st in D-1) while going 41.6% from the field. The Minutemen are connecting on 32.9% from downtown (79 of 240) and 74.8% from the charity stripe. As a unit, UMass is grabbing 35.6 boards per game and has totaled 141 assists on the year, which has them ranked 265th in D-1 in terms of passing. They are giving up possession 12.1 times per contest and as a squad are committing 18.1 fouls on a nightly basis. On the defensive end of the court, the Minutemen have forced 16.2 turnovers per contest while drawing 21.7 fouls. The Minutemen defense is giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 46.8% (244 of 521) and they surrender 36.9 boards per contest as a unit. They currently rank 86th in D-1 in giving up assists to their opponents with 137 relinquished on the campaign. They are relinquishing 36.0% from beyond the arc while they are 267th in D-1 in points per game allowed (74.3).

The UMass Minutemen faced the Davidson Wildcats and ended up losing by a score of 69-60 in their last contest. UMass wrapped up the game with a 35.7% FG percentage (20 out of 56) and converted 8 out of their 22 three-point attempts. At the free throw line, the Minutemen made 12 of their 16 shots for a rate of 75.0%. Concerning hauling in boards, they collected a total of 26 with 5 of them being on the offensive end. They also distributed 12 dimes in the game in addition to getting 5 steals and 2 rejections. In relation to the defense, UMass let their opponent shoot 35.7% from the field on 20 out of 56 shooting. Davidson doled out 18 assists and had 5 steals in the game. Additionally, the Wildcats pulled down 31 boards (4 offensive, 27 defensive) and added 2 blocked shots. Davidson ended up going 83.3% from the charity stripe by burying 10 of their 12 tries. They also knocked down 5 out of their 18 attempts from 3-point range.

Tre Mitchell is a player who was a major contributor for this contest. He finished with 16 points on 6 out of 18 shooting. He played for 34 minutes played and collected 9 rebounds. Mitchell finished the game at 33.3% from the field and also dished out 4 dimes. Someone else that was a major contributor in the game for the Minutemen was T.J. Weeks. He had 2 boards and accumulated 2 assists. He shot 60.0% from the floor in the matchup via 6-of-10 (16 points). Overall, Weeks played 22 min.

VCU has a win-loss mark of 11-4 on the campaign. VCU has tallied 1,115 pts for the year (74.3 per contest) and they grab 34.8 rebounds per game. The Rams commit 19.8 personal fouls per game and they go 74.7% from the free throw line. When it comes to offense, the Rams are shooting 45.9% from the floor, which is 105th in the country. They are getting an assist 14.1 times per contest (131st in college hoops) and they cough up possession 15.7 times per contest. The Rams on the defensive side of the court are 66th in the country in points given up per game with 65.3. The VCU defense surrenders 30.3% on shots from behind the 3-point line (86 of 284) and their opponents are knocking down 69.4% of their shots from the charity stripe. They concede 11.1 dimes and 35.0 boards per game, which is ranked 62nd and 168th in college hoops. They are forcing 18.5 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 39.8% from the floor (45th in college basketball).

In their last game, the VCU Rams went home victorious with a score of 66-43 against the Dayton Flyers. The Rams collected 29 defensive boards and 12 offensive rebounds for a total of 41 in the matchup. They rejected 9 shots while getting 7 steals for the game. The Flyers were called for 12 personal fouls for the contest which got the Rams to the free throw line for a total of 11 attempts. They were able to knock down 9 of the free throw tries for a rate of 81.8%. In relation to shots from distance, VCU converted 7 of their 23 attempts (30.4%). When the final whistle blew, the Rams ended up going 25 for 60 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 41.7%. The Rams allowed the Flyers to knock down 17 of their 55 tries from the field which left them shooting 30.9% in this game. They finished 15.0% from beyond the perimeter by shooting 3 out of 20 and finished the game at 6 of 12 at the free throw line (50.0%). Concerning attacking the glass, VCU permitted Dayton to snag 30 in all (9 on the offensive glass).

Nah'Shon Hyland ended up having an impact for the Rams in this game. He buried 9 of 17 for the contest giving him a rate of 52.9%, which earned him 28 points. Hyland collected 5 rebounds in his 29 minutes and tallied 3 dimes for the contest. Another guy that ended being a contributor for VCU was Vince Williams. He was able to score 7 points in 24 minutes played by going 3 out of 7 from the floor for the game. Williams ended up shooting 42.9% from the field while earning 2 assists and 4 total rebounds.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take VCU (-8.5)

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