West Virginia Mountaineers vs Oklahoma Sooners Prediction, 1/2/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: West Virginia Mountaineers vs Oklahoma Sooners

Date: Saturday, January 2, 2021

Location: Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, OK

TV: ESPN2

Odds/Point Spread: West Virginia (-1)

Lloyd Noble Center is the venue where and the Oklahoma Sooners (5-2) will play the West Virginia Mountaineers (8-2) on Saturday. Oklahoma opens this contest as 1-point dogs. The O/U has been set at 144.

West Virginia will play this game with a record of 8-2 on the campaign. They currently have an average of 74.6 points per contest (146th in the country) while hitting 42.0% from the field. The Mountaineers are hitting 30.3% on three-point shots (54 of 178) and 71.3% from the free throw line. As a unit, West Virginia is pulling in 40.9 boards per contest and has earned 137 dimes for the season, which ranks 56th in the nation in terms of passing the ball. They are giving up possession 11.4 times per game and as a squad they are committing 15.9 fouls per contest. When they are on defense, the Mountaineers are forcing their opponents into 14.7 turnovers per contest while drawing 20.5 fouls. The Mountaineers defense is allowing a shooting percentage of 41.6% (249 of 598) and they surrender 35.1 rebounds per contest as a group. They are 302nd in Division 1 in giving up assists to their opponents with 133 relinquished for the campaign. They are conceding 30.0% on 3-point shots while they are 129th in college basketball in PPG allowed (67.5).

The West Virginia Mountaineers faced off with the Northeastern Huskies and earned the victory with a final of 73-51 in their last contest. West Virginia ended the contest with a 43.1% FG percentage (31 out of 72) and made 2 out of their 21 three-point attempts. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Mountaineers buried 9 of 11 shots for a rate of 81.8%. When discussing rebounding, they earned a total of 41 with 14 of them being of the offensive variety. They also dished out 14 dimes in this game as well as earning 12 steals and 2 rejections. Concerning defense, West Virginia allowed the other team to go 43.1% from the field on 31 out of 72 shooting. Northeastern doled out 10 dimes and had 3 steals for the contest. In addition, the Huskies collected 32 boards (7 offensive, 25 defensive) and added 2 blocked shots. Northeastern went 71.4% when shooting free throws by converting 10 of 14 shots. They also buried 7 of 24 attempts from beyond the arc.

Derek Culver is a guy who was a factor in this game. He left the arena with 18 points on 8 out of 11 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 24 mins and snagged 4 boards. Culver ended up shooting 72.7% from the floor and also distributed 2 dimes. An additional guy that was a major contributor in the game for the Mountaineers was Emmitt Matthews. He totaled 5 boards and also collected 2 assists. He finished the game at 66.7% from the floor for the contest by shooting 4-of-6 (13 points). In all, Matthews played 23 min.

Oklahoma has a win-loss record of 5-2 this season. On the offensive side of the court, the Sooners are connecting on 47.0% from the field, which is 109th in Division 1. Oklahoma has tallied 579 points this season (82.7 per contest) and they average 38.3 boards per contest. Their rate of earning assists is at 15.3 times per game (89th in the country) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 11.3 times per contest. The Sooners commit 13.0 personal fouls every game and they connect on 78.5% from the free throw line. The Sooners on the defensive end are ranked 188th in college hoops in points allowed per contest with 70.9. They are forcing 13.3 TO's per game and have let teams shoot 41.3% from the floor (131st in the nation). The Oklahoma defense allows 37.1% on 3-pointers (66 of 178) and their opponents are connecting on 81.9% of their shots from the free throw line. They relinquish 11.4 dimes and 34.1 total rebounds per game, which is 93rd and 132nd in those defensive categories.

The last time they took the court, the Oklahoma Sooners took a loss by a score of 69-67 when they played the Texas Tech Red Raiders. The Sooners pulled down 19 defensive boards and 10 offensive rebounds totaling 29 in this contest. They also blocked 4 tries while recording 7 steals for the game. The Red Raiders were called for 22 personal fouls in the game which took the Sooners to the free throw line for 27 tries. They were able to bury 17 of those for a rate of 63.0%. In terms of shooting from beyond the arc, Oklahoma buried 6 of 15 attempts (40.0%). When the final whistle was blown, the Sooners shot 22 out of 54 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 40.7%. The Sooners allowed the Red Raiders to knock down 28 of their 57 tries from the field which left them shooting 49.1% for this contest. They shot 28.6% from downtown by going 4 out of 14 and ended up going 9 out of 10 at the free throw line (90.0%). In regard to attacking the glass, Oklahoma allowed Texas Tech to get 26 in total (6 on the offensive side).

De'Vion Harmon pitched in for the Sooners in this game. He converted 5 of 11 for the contest for a rate of 45.5%, which had him finishing with 17 points. Harmon collected 2 rebounds in his 39 minutes played and accounted for 2 assists for the game. Another guy who was a determining factor for Oklahoma was Austin Reaves. He ended up with 13 points in 34 minutes on the court via 4 out of 14 from the floor in the game. Reaves finished going 28.6% from the floor while contributing 3 dimes and 4 boards.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take West Virginia (-1)

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