Maine Black Bears vs Minnesota Golden Gophers Prediction, 12/29/2023 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Maine Black Bears vs Minnesota Golden Gophers

Date: Friday, December 29, 2023

Location: Williams Arena in Minneapolis, MN

TV: Peacock

The Maine Black Bears (8-6) are headed to Williams Arena on Friday where they will take on the Minnesota Golden Gophers (9-3).

The Maine Black Bears played FIU and took a loss by a score of 82-74 in their last contest. When talking about personal fouls, the Black Bears ended up with 18 while FIU totaled 16 personal fouls. They made 8 out of their 23 attempts from three-point range. FIU finished 66.7% at the free throw line by knocking down 14 of their 21 tries. Furthermore, FIU pulled down 39 rebounds (13 offensive, 26 defensive), but wasn't able to record a rejection. FIU doled out 14 dimes and had 5 steals in this game. When discussing the defense, Maine let their opponent shoot 50.8% from the floor on 30 out of 59 shooting. They also recorded 17 assists in the game as well as forcing 17 turnovers and earning 12 steals. With respect to grabbing rebounds, they earned a total of 25 with 6 of them being on the offensive end. At the charity stripe, the Black Bears made 15 of their 20 shots for a percentage of 75.0%. Maine ended the game having earned a 47.4% FG percentage (27 out of 57) and converted 5 of 18 three-point shots.

Peter Filipovity is a guy who played a role for the contest. He ended up shooting 46.2% from the field and earned 3 assists. He was on the court for 35 minutes and snagged 7 rebounds. He walked away with 16 points on 6 out of 13 shooting.

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Maine will play this contest with a win-loss mark of 8-6 for the campaign. They are turning it over 10.9 times per contest and as a unit are committing 16.6 personal fouls on a nightly basis. As a team, Maine is snagging 32.0 rebounds per game and is sitting with 183 dimes this year, which is 110th in the country in terms of passing. The Black Bears are connecting on 29.0% on 3-point shots (75 of 259) and 72.4% from the free throw line. They average 69.3 pts per contest (298th in the nation) while hitting 46.1% from the floor.

On the defensive end of the court, the Black Bears are forcing their opponents into 13.9 turnovers every game and they draw 15.5 personal fouls. They are giving up 31.0% on three-point shots and they rank 60th in college basketball in points per game allowed (65.3). The Black Bears defense is allowing an opponent FG percentage of 42.9% (332 of 773) and they surrender 35.2 rebounds per game as a squad. They are ranked 281st in college basketball in giving up assists to their opponents with 172 relinquished this year.

In their last game, the Minnesota Golden Gophers got the win with a final of 80-63 against Ball State. The Golden Gophers earned 23 defensive rebounds and 8 offensive rebounds for a total of 31 in this contest. They also gave up possession of the ball 6 times, while earning 7 steals for this contest. Ball State had 16 personal fouls for the contest which took the Golden Gophers to the free throw line for 22 tries. They were able to knock down 12 of them for a rate of 54.5%. In the matter of shooting from distance, Minnesota buried 8 of 18 attempts (44.4%). Overall, the Golden Gophers finished 30 for 57 from the floor which had them at 52.6%. The Golden Gophers permitted Ball State to make 24 of 53 tries from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 45.3% for the contest. They went 38.1% from distance by going 8 out of 21 and ended up shooting 7 out of 11 from the charity stripe (63.6%). Regarding cleaning up the glass, Minnesota allowed Ball State to snag 25 overall (6 on the offensive glass).

Mike Mitchell ended up having an impact for the Golden Gophers in this game. He racked up 20 points in his 36 mins on the court and accumulated 5 dimes for the contest. He converted 8 out of 11 for the contest giving him a rate of 72.7%, and had 4 rebounds.

Minnesota has a win-loss record of 9-3 for the campaign. The Golden Gophers are committing 15.4 fouls per contest and they connect on 70.7% from the free throw line. They are dishing out assists 19.9 times per game (6th in Division 1) and they cough up possession 12.8 times per contest. Minnesota has earned 966 points for the season (80.5 per contest) and they pull in 38.8 rebounds per game. When it comes to offensive execution, the Golden Gophers are connecting on 49.5% from the floor, which has them ranked 23rd in college hoops.

The Minnesota defense surrenders 33.6% on shots from 3-point land (71 of 211) and opponents are knocking down 72.3% of their shots from the free throw line. They surrender 12.0 dimes and 31.3 total rebounds per game, which is 133rd and 39th in those defensive categories. The Golden Gophers defensively are ranked 86th in the nation in PPG given up with 66.7. They are forcing 12.1 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 41.4% from the field (122nd in college basketball).

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Minnesota

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