Akron Zips vs Ball State Cardinals Prediction, 3/1/2022 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Akron Zips vs Ball State Cardinals

Date: Tuesday, March 1, 2022

Location: Worthen Arena in Muncie, IN

TV: ESPN+

The Ball State Cardinals (13-15) will go up against the Akron Zips (19-9) at Worthen Arena on Tuesday.

The Akron Zips played Ohio and took home the win by a score of 91-83 in their last contest. When talking about fouls, the Zips ended up with 16 while Ohio totaled 24 fouls. They made 15 of their 36 attempts from 3-point land. Ohio walked away from this one shooting 61.5% at the charity stripe by burying 8 of their 13 tries. On top of that, Ohio had 19 rebounds (6 offensive, 13 defensive), but wasn't able to record a block. Ohio dished out 15 assists and had 5 steals in the matchup. With regard to defending, Akron allowed their opponent to shoot 48.4% from the floor on 30 out of 62 shooting. They also doled out 11 assists for this game in addition to forcing 10 turnovers and earning 6 steals. Concerning pulling down boards, they earned a total of 33 with 6 of them being on the offensive end. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Zips made 27 of 35 tries for a rate of 77.1%. Akron ended the game with a 62.5% field goal percentage (30 of 48) and buried 4 of 15 3-point attempts.

Greg Tribble is one guy who was a major contributor in the game. He finished the game shooting 75.0% from the field and totaled 1 assist. He played for 33 mins played and totaled 4 boards. He walked away with 17 points on 6 of 8 shooting.

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Akron will take the court with a mark of 19-9 so far this season. They are turning it over 11.7 times per game and as a team they commit 16.0 personal fouls every game. As a team, Akron is pulling down 35.7 boards per contest and has tallied 335 assists so far this year, which ranks 256th in D-1 in terms of passing the rock. The Zips are hitting 34.8% on shots from 3-point land (217 of 624) and 67.8% from the charity stripe. They currently have an average of 71.4 pts per game (172nd in Division 1) while hitting 46.4% from the field.

When they are on defense, the Zips are able to force 11.5 turnovers per contest while drawing 19.4 fouls. They concede 34.6% from beyond the arc while they are 30th in Division 1 in PPG allowed (63.3). The Zips are giving up a field goal percentage of 42.5% (657 of 1,546) and they surrender 30.5 boards per game as a team. They are 10th in college basketball in giving up assists with 263 relinquished for the season.

When they last stepped on the court, the Ball State Cardinals got the victory with a final of 75-64 when they played Eastern Michigan. In relation to how they attacked the glass, Ball State permitted Eastern Michigan to pull down 34 in all (9 on the offensive side). They finished 27.3% from distance by shooting 9 out of 33 and ended up going 11 of 13 at the free throw line (84.6%). The Cardinals permitted Eastern Michigan to convert 22 out of their 60 tries from the floor which gave them a percentage of 36.7% for the matchup. When the final whistle blew, the Cardinals went 26 for 62 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 41.9%. With regard to shots from beyond the arc, Ball State knocked down 8 of 28 tries (28.6%). They were able to bury 15 of those for a rate of 68.2%. Eastern Michigan committed 21 fouls for the matchup which got the Cardinals to the charity stripe for a total of 22 tries. They also coughed it up 6 times, while recording 3 steals in the matchup. The Cardinals snagged 28 defensive rebounds and 9 offensive rebounds totaling 37 in this contest.

Payton Sparks ended up being a factor for the Cardinals for the matchup. He made 6 out of 7 for the contest for a field goal rate of 85.7%, and tallied 10 rebounds. He totaled 17 points in his 29 minutes of playing time and had 2 assists in this game.

Ball State has a mark of 13-15 so far this season. As an offensive team, the Cardinals are shooting 44.9% from the floor, which ranks 135th in college basketball. Ball State has totaled 2,113 points this season (75.5 per game) and they collect 35.5 boards per contest. Their rate of assisting teammates is at 13.5 times per game (146th in the country) and they cough up possession 14.1 times per game. The Cardinals have committed 18.0 fouls per contest and they connect on 69.2% from the free throw line.

The Ball State defense gives up 35.9% on shots from 3-point land (256 of 713) and their opposition makes 71.6% of their shots from the charity stripe. They have surrendered 13.5 assists and 36.0 boards on a nightly basis, which ranks 253rd and 262nd in those defensive categories. The Cardinals on the defensive side of the court are 336th in college hoops in PPG allowed with 77.2. They are forcing 12.6 TO's every game and have allowed teams to shoot 44.7% from the field (267th in college basketball).

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Akron

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