Western Kentucky Hilltoppers vs South Carolina Gamecocks Prediction, 12/22/2022 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Western Kentucky Hilltoppers vs South Carolina Gamecocks

Date: Thursday, December 22, 2022

Location: Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, SC

TV: SECN

Colonial Life Arena is the location where the South Carolina Gamecocks (5-6) will take on the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (8-2) on Thursday.

The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers took the court against Louisville and took a loss by a score of 94-83 in their last contest. In the matter of personal fouls, the Hilltoppers walked away with 19 and Louisville finished the game with 15 personal fouls. They buried 13 out of their 25 shots from downtown. Louisville finished the contest at 95.0% when shooting free throws by converting 19 of their 20 shots. Furthermore, Louisville pulled down 28 rebounds (7 offensive, 21 defensive), but wrapped up the game with no rejections. Louisville distributed 17 dimes and had 5 steals in this matchup. In terms of defense, Western Kentucky allowed the other team to shoot 54.4% from the field on 31 out of 57 shooting. They also doled out 17 assists for this contest while creating 12 turnovers and earning 1 steal. In reference to pulling down rebounds, they collected a total of 36 with 17 of them being of the offensive sort. At the free throw line, the Hilltoppers made 8 of their 11 tries for a percentage of 72.7%. Western Kentucky ended having earned a 47.1% field goal percentage (33 out of 70) and converted 9 of 26 shots from downtown.

Dayvion McKnight is one guy who was important in this contest. He ended up walking away with 25 points on 11 out of 22 shooting. He played for 32 mins and also snagged 5 boards. He went 50.0% from the field and also dished out 2 dimes.

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Western Kentucky enters this game with a win-loss record of 8-2 on the year. They currently have an average of 77.5 points per contest (87th in the country) while hitting 48.1% from the field. The Hilltoppers are hitting 42.3% from downtown (93 of 220) and 69.1% from the free throw line. As a unit, Western Kentucky is grabbing 35.8 boards per contest and is sitting with 169 assists so far this season, which is 130th in D-1 in terms of passing. They turn it over 11.5 times per game and as a basketball team are committing 15.1 personal fouls every game.

When they are on the defensive end, the Hilltoppers are forcing 13.4 turnovers per game while drawing 16.7 personal fouls. They surrender 33.1% on shots from beyond the arc and they are ranked 129th in D-1 in opponents points per game (66.6). Hilltoppers are giving up a field goal percentage of 40.4% (247 of 611) and they relinquish 34.9 boards per contest as a basketball team. They are ranked 37th in college basketball in allowing assists to their opponents with 111 relinquished so far this year.

The last time they took the court, the South Carolina Gamecocks took a loss by a final score of 64-56 against East Carolina. The Gamecocks collected 19 defensive rebounds and 11 offensive rebounds totaling 30 for the matchup. They coughed up the ball 12 times, while recording 5 steals for the contest. East Carolina committed 16 fouls in this matchup which took the Gamecocks to the free throw line for a total of 13 attempts. They were able to knock down 8 of them for a percentage of 61.5%. When discussing shots from 3-point land, South Carolina buried 6 out of their 24 tries (25.0%). When the final whistle was blown, the Gamecocks finished shooting 21 out of 55 from the field which gave them a percentage of 38.2%. The Gamecocks allowed East Carolina to make 22 out of 44 attempts from the floor which gave them a percentage of 50.0% for this game. They went 40.9% from distance by going 9 out of 22 and ended up shooting 11 of 20 at the charity stripe (55.0%). Regarding cleaning the glass, South Carolina allowed East Carolina to pull down 24 in total (4 on the offensive glass).

Hayden Brown ended up having an impact for the Gamecocks in the matchup. He earned 15 points in his 39 minutes on the hardwood, but left the arena with no assists. He buried 6 of 11 in the matchup giving him a rate of 54.5%, and added 5 rebounds.

South Carolina has a record of 5-6 for the campaign. As an offensive unit, the Gamecocks are hitting on 40.6% from the floor, which is ranked 334th in Division 1. South Carolina has scored 704 pts for the season (64.0 per contest) and they pull in 34.9 boards per game. Their rate of earning assists is at 11.5 times per contest (318th in the nation) and they turn it over 13.3 times per contest. The Gamecocks are committing 15.0 fouls per contest and they go 62.3% from the free throw line.

The South Carolina defense allows 36.8% on shots from 3-point land (84 of 228) and their opponents are knocking down 65.7% of their shots from the charity stripe. They surrender 15.2 dimes and 33.5 boards per game, ranking them 323rd and 148th in D-1. The Gamecocks defensively are ranked 234th in college hoops in points allowed per contest with 70.5. They are forcing their opponents into 11.3 turnovers on a nightly basis and have allowed teams to shoot 47.2% from the field (341st in college basketball).

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take South Carolina

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