Drake Bulldogs vs UAB Blazers Prediction, 12/22/2023 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Drake Bulldogs vs UAB Blazers

Date: Friday, December 22, 2023

Location: Bartow Arena in Birmingham, AL

TV: ESPN+

The UAB Blazers (6-5) will compete against the Drake Bulldogs (11-1) at Bartow Arena on Friday.

The Drake Bulldogs faced Alcorn State and notched a win by a score of 92-55 in their last game. Drake finished having earned a 46.2% field goal percentage (30 of 65) and converted 12 of their 35 3-point attempts. At the free throw line, the Bulldogs converted 20 of 24 attempts for a percentage of 83.3%. Concerning pulling down boards, they compiled a total of 46 with 8 of them being of the offensive variety. They also doled out 21 dimes in the matchup while forcing 13 turnovers and earning 6 steals. Concerning the defense, Drake allowed the other team to shoot 31.1% from the floor on 19 out of 61 shooting. Alcorn State recorded 5 dimes and had 6 steals in the matchup. On top of that, Alcorn State pulled down 30 boards (4 offensive, 26 defensive), but wasn't able to record a block. Alcorn State finished 59.1% at the free throw line by knocking down 13 of their 22 shots. They also converted 4 of their 15 tries from distance. When talking about personal fouls, the Bulldogs ended up walking away with 22 and Alcorn State finished the game with 21 personal fouls.

Atin Wright is one player who was a contributor in the game. He walked away with 24 points on 8 of 19 shooting. He was on the court for 30 minutes and also collected 2 boards. He finished 42.1% from the field and earned 4 dimes.

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Drake will enter this contest with a mark of 11-1 on the season. They turn it over 9.8 times per contest and as a squad are committing 15.8 personal fouls per game. As a unit, Drake is grabbing 34.9 rebounds per contest and has racked up 196 dimes for the campaign, which ranks 35th in Division 1 in terms of passing the ball. The Bulldogs are hitting 33.2% from downtown (101 of 304) and 77.8% from the free throw line. They have an average of 78.8 pts per game (96th in D-1) while connecting on 46.6% from the field.

On defense, the Bulldogs have forced 14.4 turnovers every game and they draw 17.1 personal fouls. They are conceding 31.5% on shots from beyond the perimeter and they rank 70th in D-1 in opponents PPG (65.9). The Bulldogs are giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 43.5% (293 of 673) and they surrender 33.2 boards per game as a unit. They are ranked 38th in the country in allowing assists to their opponents with 112 surrendered on the season.

The last time they took the court, the UAB Blazers went home victorious with a score of 92-56 against Montevallo. In relation to rebounds, UAB permitted Montevallo to snag 28 in all (7 on the offensive side). They shot 20.8% from downtown by hitting 5 of 24 and walked away from this one shooting 3 of 6 at the free throw line (50.0%). The Blazers permitted Montevallo to knock down 24 of 61 tries from the floor which gave them a rate of 39.3% for the contest. At the conclusion of this game, the Blazers went 36 out of 73 from the field which gave them a rate of 49.3%. Regarding three-point attempts, UAB made 5 out of their 23 attempts (21.7%). They were able to knock down 15 of those for a percentage of 88.2%. Montevallo was called for 14 fouls in this game which got the Blazers to the free throw line for 17 tries. They also coughed it up 8 times, while recording 14 steals for this game. The Blazers earned 27 defensive boards and 10 offensive boards for a total of 37 in the matchup.

Javian Davis ended up being important for the Blazers in the game. He buried 9 out of 13 for this contest for a field goal percentage of 69.2%, and had 4 rebounds. He racked up 22 points in his 24 minutes on the hardwood, but didn't record an assist.

UAB has a win-loss mark of 6-5 for the year. The Blazers are committing 15.4 fouls per contest while shooting 72.6% from the free throw line. They are getting an assist 12.6 times per contest (249th in college hoops) and they are losing possession via turnover 11.6 times per contest. UAB has totaled 838 pts for the campaign (76.2 per contest) and they collect 38.7 rebounds per contest. On the offensive side of the court, the Blazers are shooting 44.2% from the field, which has them ranked 215th in Division 1.

The Blazers are ranked 280th in college hoops in PPG surrendered with 74.9. They have forced 11.9 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 45.2% from the field (297th in college basketball). The UAB defense allows 34.6% on three-point shots (88 of 254) and opponents are connecting on 69.7% of their shots from the charity stripe. They concede 14.0 assists and 33.9 total rebounds per game, which is ranked 281st and 132nd in those categories.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Drake

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