Kent State Golden Flashes vs Ball State Cardinals Prediction, 1/4/2022 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Kent State Golden Flashes vs Ball State Cardinals

Date: Tuesday, January 4, 2022

Location: Worthen Arena in Muncie, IN

TV: ESPN3

Worthen Arena is the site where the Ball State Cardinals (6-6) will attempt to defeat the Kent State Golden Flashes (6-6) on Tuesday.

The Kent State Golden Flashes faced Toledo and took home the win by a score of 66-63 in their last contest. In relation to personal fouls, the Golden Flashes finished with 23 while Toledo recorded 20 personal fouls. They also buried 7 out of their 20 attempts from distance. Toledo finished the contest at 71.4% from the charity stripe by converting 20 of 28 tries. On top of that, Toledo grabbed 31 rebounds (11 offensive, 20 defensive), but didn't have a block. Toledo distributed 7 dimes and had 6 steals in this game. Concerning defending, Kent State allowed 34.6% from the floor on 18 out of 52 shooting. They also distributed 10 dimes for this contest while forcing the opposition into 15 turnovers and getting 7 steals. Pertaining to pulling down boards, they earned a total of 42 with 16 of them being of the offensive sort. From the charity stripe, the Golden Flashes made 19 of their 21 attempts for a percentage of 90.5%. Kent State finished the game with a 33.3% field goal percentage (20 of 60) and converted 7 of their 27 shots from 3-point land.

Justyn Hamilton is someone who was a major factor for the contest. He shot 50.0% from the floor but had no assists when the game ended. He was on the hardwood for 34 mins and pulled down 11 rebounds. He ended up walking away with 8 points on 3 of 6 shooting.

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Kent State enters this game with a win-loss record of 6-6 on the season. They are turning it over 12.6 times per contest and as a team they commit 17.4 fouls on a nightly basis. As a unit, Kent State is pulling down 35.4 rebounds per game and has 157 dimes on the season, which is 236th in D-1 in terms of passing the ball. The Golden Flashes are connecting on 31.3% on 3-point shots (93 of 297) and 81.0% from the charity stripe. They are averaging 70.0 points per outing (230th in Division 1) while shooting 42.7% from the floor.

On defense, the Golden Flashes are forcing their opponents into 14.8 turnovers per game while drawing 17.6 fouls. They are currently ranked 70th in Division 1 in allowing assists with 134 relinquished for the year. The Golden Flashes defensively are giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 39.4% (257 of 652) and they surrender 32.6 boards per game as a squad. They are giving up 29.2% from 3-point land while they are 57th in college basketball in PPG from their opponents (62.3).

The last time they took the court, the Ball State Cardinals took home the win by a final score of 81-80 against Bowling Green. The Cardinals snagged 24 defensive rebounds and 12 offensive rebounds totaling 36 in this matchup. They also coughed up the ball 14 times, while getting 7 steals for the contest. Bowling Green committed 23 personal fouls in this game which took the Cardinals to the charity stripe for 26 shots. They were able to make 20 of the free throws for a percentage of 76.9%. Pertaining to shooting from 3-point land, Ball State made 7 out of 27 tries (25.9%). At the conclusion of this game, the Cardinals ended up shooting 27 out of 60 from the field which gave them a percentage of 45.0%. The Cardinals permitted Bowling Green to bury 24 of 64 attempts from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 37.5% for the contest. They went 42.9% from distance by shooting 12 out of 28 and ended up shooting 20 of 25 at the charity stripe (80.0%). Regarding how they cleaned up the glass, Ball State allowed Bowling Green to get 38 in total (15 on the offensive glass).

Payton Sparks was important for the Cardinals for the contest. He knocked down 7 of 10 for the matchup giving him a field goal percentage of 70.0%, and had 9 rebounds. He totaled 20 points in his 29 mins on the court and tallied 2 dimes in this contest.

Ball State has a win-loss mark of 6-6 on the campaign. On the offensive side of the ball, the Cardinals are shooting 44.2% from the field, which is ranked 185th in Division 1. Ball State has scored 899 pts on the year (74.9 per game) and they pull down 34.8 boards per contest. They are assisting teammates 14.1 times per contest (139th in Division 1) and they cough up possession 14.3 times per game. The Cardinals commit 18.1 fouls every game while shooting 67.3% from the charity stripe.

The Ball State defense gives up 38.5% on 3-point attempts (115 of 299) and their opponents are connecting on 70.9% of their free throw attempts. They allow 13.0 dimes and 36.8 boards per game, ranking them 212th and 276th in those categories. The Cardinals on defense are ranked 339th in the nation in points given up per game with 78.1. They are forcing 13.0 TO's per game and have let teams shoot 45.4% from the field (307th in Division 1).

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Ball State

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