Baylor Bears vs Michigan State Spartans Prediction, 12/16/2023 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Baylor Bears vs Michigan State Spartans

Date: Saturday, December 16, 2023

Location: Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, MI

TV: FOX

The Baylor Bears (9-0) are traveling to Little Caesars Arena on Saturday where they will try to defeat the Michigan State Spartans (4-5).

The Baylor Bears faced off with Seton Hall and notched a win by a score of 78-60 in their last contest. When talking about personal fouls, the Bears ended up walking away with 13 and Seton Hall finished the game with 18 personal fouls. They made 4 of 13 shots from distance. Seton Hall ended up going 90.9% when shooting free throws by knocking down 10 of their 11 attempts. Furthermore, Seton Hall grabbed 26 rebounds (8 offensive, 18 defensive), but couldn't earn a rejection. Seton Hall totaled 13 dimes and had 7 steals for this game. Pertaining to defense, Baylor let their opponent shoot 42.6% from the floor on 23 of 54 shooting. They also doled out 17 assists for the game as well as forcing the other team into 11 turnovers and earning 5 steals. In terms of rebounding, they compiled 28 with 11 of them being of the offensive variety. At the charity stripe, the Bears converted 12 of their 15 attempts for a rate of 80.0%. Baylor ended the game having earned a 50.9% FG percentage (28 of 55) and knocked down 10 out of their 22 shots from beyond the arc.

Rayj Dennis is one player who was a contributor for this game. He finished the game at 45.5% from the floor and distributed 7 dimes. He was on the hardwood for 36 minutes and also pulled down 5 rebounds. He ended up scoring 17 points on 5 of 11 shooting.

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Baylor will play this game with a mark of 9-0 on the season. They lose possession via turnover 11.8 times per game and as a basketball team are committing 15.4 fouls per contest. As a team, Baylor is pulling down 40.0 rebounds per game and has tallied 150 dimes on the year, which has them ranked 110th in the country in terms of passing the ball. The Bears are shooting 43.2% on shots from distance (82 of 190) and 74.0% from the charity stripe. They average 91.1 points per outing (4th in the country) while hitting 52.0% from the field.

When they are on defense, the Bears are forcing their opponents into 13.2 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 21.9 personal fouls. They rank 112th in college basketball in giving up assists to the opposition with 112 conceded on the campaign. The Bears defense is allowing an opponent FG percentage of 41.0% (225 of 549) and they surrender 29.3 boards per contest as a unit. They are relinquishing 28.7% on 3-point attempts while they are 107th in D-1 in points per game allowed (67.6).

The last time they took the court, the Michigan State Spartans took a defeat with a final score of 77-70 against Nebraska. In the matter of cleaning the glass, Michigan State allowed Nebraska to pull down 28 in total (4 on the offensive side). They finished 43.5% from 3-point land by connecting on 10 out of 23 and ended up going 13 out of 15 from the free throw line (86.7%). The Spartans permitted Nebraska to make 27 of their 54 attempts from the floor which had them sitting at 50.0% for this contest. When the game finished, the Spartans finished 27 out of 61 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 44.3%. When talking about shots from beyond the arc, Michigan State made 8 out of 17 attempts (47.1%). They were able to make 8 of the free throw attempts for a rate of 88.9%. Nebraska had 11 fouls in this contest which got the Spartans to the charity stripe for 9 shots. They gave up possession of the ball 9 times, while getting 5 steals in the matchup. The Spartans were able to pull down 21 defensive boards and 6 offensive rebounds totaling 27 in this game.

Malik Hall was important for the Spartans in this game. He scored 22 points in his 34 minutes on the hardwood and totaled 3 dimes in this game. He made 7 of 14 for the contest for a field goal percentage of 50.0%, and had 7 rebounds.

Michigan State has a record of 4-5 for the campaign. On the offensive side of the ball, the Spartans are shooting 44.9% from the field, which is ranked 175th in Division 1. Michigan State has tallied 651 points this season (72.3 per game) and they snag 36.8 rebounds per game. They are dishing out assists 16.3 times per contest (49th in the country) and they are losing possession via turnover 10.7 times per contest. The Spartans commit 16.8 personal fouls every game and they shoot 68.2% from the charity stripe.

The Michigan State defense gives up 30.8% on shots from distance (65 of 211) and their opposition knocks down 73.7% of their free throw attempts. They have allowed 12.6 dimes and 36.3 rebounds per game, which ranks them 183rd and 243rd in the nation. The Spartans on defense are ranked 50th in D-1 in points allowed per contest with 64.8. They are forcing 13.0 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 38.5% from the field (24th in the country).

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Baylor

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