Saint Louis Billikens vs UMass Minutemen Prediction, 1/20/2022 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Saint Louis Billikens vs UMass Minutemen

Date: Thursday, January 20, 2022

Location: William D. Mullins Memorial Center in Amherst, MA

TV: ESPN+

The UMass Minutemen (7-9) will try to beat the Saint Louis Billikens (11-5) at William D. Mullins Memorial Center on Thursday.

The Saint Louis Billikens played Fordham and walked away with a win by a score of 63-45 in their last contest. Concerning fouls, the Billikens walked away with 18 while Fordham totaled 19 fouls. They buried 5 of 20 attempts from beyond the arc. Fordham finished the game shooting 50.0% at the charity stripe by making 8 of their 16 attempts. Moreover, Fordham grabbed 24 rebounds (7 offensive, 17 defensive), but didn't record a block for the team. Fordham earned 8 assists and had 9 steals in the game. In relation to defending, Saint Louis let their opponent shoot 28.6% from the floor on 16 of 56 shooting. They also distributed 15 assists for the contest in addition to forcing the other team into 10 turnovers and getting 5 steals. In reference to grabbing rebounds, they collected 41 with 10 of them being of the offensive sort. At the free throw line, the Billikens made 10 of their 13 tries for a percentage of 76.9%. Saint Louis walked away from the game having earned a 45.3% FG percentage (24 out of 53) and buried 5 of their 10 3-point attempts.

Gibson Jimerson is someone who came through in the matchup. He shot 53.8% from the field but had no dimes when the game ended. He was on the hardwood for 40 minutes played and snagged 2 rebounds. He finished with 19 points on 7 of 13 shooting.

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Saint Louis heads into this contest with a mark of 11-5 on the campaign. They are averaging 78.4 pts per game (41st in the nation) while going 45.9% from the field. The Billikens are shooting 37.5% on shots from distance (105 of 280) and 77.0% from the free throw line. As a team, Saint Louis is pulling down 39.3 rebounds per contest and has accounted for 226 assists on the season, which is 153rd in the country in terms of passing the rock. They lose possession by turning the ball over 13.7 times per contest and as a squad they are committing 17.9 fouls every game.

On defense, the Billikens have forced 14.3 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 18.8 personal fouls. They currently rank 95th in D-1 in giving up assists with 183 relinquished for the season. The Billikens are allowing a shooting percentage of 41.1% (377 of 918) and they concede 32.4 rebounds per game as a unit. They give up 30.7% from beyond the arc while they are 122nd in D-1 in PPG allowed (66.6).

When they last played, the UMass Minutemen took a loss by a score of 81-68 when they played Rhode Island. In relation to cleaning the glass, UMass permitted Rhode Island to collect 33 overall (8 on the offensive glass). They went 33.3% from 3-point land by hitting 5 of 15 and finished the contest at 14 out of 18 at the charity stripe (77.8%). The Minutemen allowed Rhode Island to make 31 of 59 tries from the field which had them shooting 52.5% in this game. When the final whistle was blown, the Minutemen shot 20 out of 56 from the field which had them shooting 35.7%. In regard to three-point attempts, UMass buried 13 of 24 tries (54.2%). They were able to make 15 of the free throws for a percentage of 68.2%. Rhode Island was called for 18 personal fouls for the contest which took the Minutemen to the charity stripe for 22 shots. They also coughed up the ball 12 times, while getting 8 steals in this contest. The Minutemen pulled down 20 defensive rebounds and 11 offensive boards totaling 31 in the game.

Noah Fernandes pitched in for the Minutemen for this game. He knocked down 5 out of 10 in the game for a field goal rate of 50.0%, and totaled 3 rebounds. He had 18 points in his 39 mins of playing time and accumulated 7 assists for this game.

UMass has a record of 7-9 this year. In terms of offensive execution, the Minutemen are shooting 44.4% from the floor, which is ranked 169th in college hoops. UMass has earned 1,236 points on the campaign (77.3 per contest) and they grab 32.7 boards per game. They are assisting teammates 13.9 times per game (139th in college basketball) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 11.5 times per game. The Minutemen have committed 17.2 personal fouls every game and they go 73.2% from the free throw line.

The UMass defense allows 36.9% on shots from behind the 3-point line (122 of 331) and their opposition makes 75.6% of their free throw shots. They have surrendered 15.9 assists and 35.0 rebounds on a nightly basis, which has them ranked 344th and 197th in those categories. The Minutemen on the defensive end are ranked 342nd in D-1 in PPG given up with 78.3. They are forcing 12.4 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 48.7% from the field (352nd in college hoops).

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Saint Louis

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