Hampton Pirates vs Eastern Michigan Eagles Prediction, 12/21/2023 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Hampton Pirates vs Eastern Michigan Eagles

Date: Thursday, December 21, 2023

Location: George Gervin GameAbove Center in Ypsilanti, MI

TV: ESPN+

The Eastern Michigan Eagles (5-5) will go up against the Hampton Pirates (4-6) at George Gervin GameAbove Center on Thursday.

The Hampton Pirates took the court against James Madison and ended up losing by a score of 88-71 in their last game. Hampton wrapped up the contest having earned a 43.1% field goal percentage (25 of 58) and converted 8 out of their 20 shots from distance. When they shot from the free throw line, the Pirates made 13 of their 19 tries for a rate of 68.4%. In regard to pulling down rebounds, they collected 37 with 10 of them being on the offensive end. They also recorded 16 dimes for this game as well as forcing the opposition into 8 turnovers and getting 2 steals. With regard to defending, Hampton allowed the other team to go 47.4% from the field on 36 out of 76 shooting. James Madison earned 22 assists and had 7 steals in the game. Moreover, James Madison snagged 38 rebounds (11 offensive, 27 defensive), but wasn't able to record a rejection. James Madison finished the contest at 44.4% at the free throw line by knocking down 4 of their 9 tries. They also made 12 of 32 attempts from beyond the arc. In relation to fouls, the Pirates ended up with 15 while James Madison accounted for 19 fouls.

Jerry Deng is someone who played a role for the contest. He ended up finishing with 18 points on 7 of 11 shooting. He was on the court for 24 minutes played and also grabbed 6 rebounds. He finished the game shooting 63.6% from the field but finished the game without an assist.

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Hampton will play this contest with a mark of 4-6 so far this year. They average 83.1 pts per game (40th in the nation) while going 47.8% from the field. The Pirates are connecting on 34.2% on shots from distance (78 of 228) and 72.6% from the free throw line. As a unit, Hampton is collecting 39.9 boards per game and has accounted for 154 assists this year, which has them ranked 156th in college basketball in terms of passing the rock. They lose possession via turnover 15.0 times per game and as a squad are committing 19.3 fouls on a nightly basis.

On defense, the Pirates are forcing their opponents into 13.7 turnovers per game while drawing 18.3 personal fouls. They give up 28.1% on shots from beyond the perimeter and they are ranked 294th in D-1 in PPG allowed (75.6). The Pirates defensively are giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 41.1% (258 of 628) and they relinquish 34.4 boards per game as a basketball team. They are ranked 94th in the country in giving up assists to their opponents with 121 surrendered on the year.

For their last game, the Eastern Michigan Eagles walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 83-66 against Michigan. With respect to rebounds, Eastern Michigan allowed Michigan to get 34 overall (7 offensive). They went 44.4% from three-point range by hitting 12 of 27 and ended up going 9 out of 15 at the free throw line (60.0%). The Eagles permitted Michigan to knock down 31 of 57 tries from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 54.4% in this game. Overall, the Eagles finished the game shooting 26 for 65 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 40.0%. In terms of shots from downtown, Eastern Michigan converted 2 of 15 attempts (13.3%). They were able to bury 12 of them for a clip of 75.0%. Michigan was called for 17 fouls in this game which got the Eagles to the charity stripe for 16 shots. They turned it over 5 times, while getting 6 steals in this game. The Eagles collected 18 defensive boards and 8 offensive boards for a total of 26 in this contest.

Tyson Acuff pitched in for the Eagles for this game. He racked up 24 points in his 37 mins on the court and accumulated 2 assists in this contest. He knocked down 10 out of 27 in the game for a rate of 37.0%, and had 3 rebounds.

Eastern Michigan has a win-loss record of 5-5 for the campaign. In terms of offensive execution, the Eagles are shooting 45.0% from the field, which ranks 179th in the country. Eastern Michigan has 668 pts on the season (66.8 per contest) and they pull down 32.3 boards per contest. They are assisting teammates 10.9 times per game (326th in Division 1) and they turn it over 12.0 times per contest. The Eagles are committing 16.4 fouls every game and they connect on 67.5% from the free throw line.

The Eagles defensively are ranked 265th in college basketball in points allowed per game with 74.4. They are forcing 10.2 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 46.5% from the floor (324th in college basketball). The Eastern Michigan defense surrenders 33.8% on shots from 3-point land (79 of 234) and their opponents are connecting on 69.1% of their foul shots. They concede 13.9 dimes and 34.7 total rebounds per game, which is 272nd and 176th in Division 1.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Hampton

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