North Carolina Central Eagles vs Virginia Cavaliers Prediction, 12/5/2023 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: North Carolina Central Eagles vs Virginia Cavaliers

Date: Tuesday, December 5, 2023

Location: John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, VA

TV: ESPN+

The North Carolina Central Eagles (4-5) are hitting the road to John Paul Jones Arena on Tuesday where they will meet the Virginia Cavaliers (7-1).

The North Carolina Central Eagles faced USC Upstate and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 85-82 in their last contest. Regarding fouls, the Eagles ended up finishing with 17 and USC Upstate recorded 24 fouls. They also made 12 of their 27 tries from distance. USC Upstate finished the game shooting 76.5% from the free throw line by converting 13 of their 17 attempts. Furthermore, USC Upstate grabbed 25 rebounds (9 offensive, 16 defensive), but wrapped up the game with no rejections. USC Upstate dished out 22 assists and had 7 steals in the game. In the matter of defending, North Carolina Central allowed their opponent to shoot 55.6% from the floor on 30 of 54 shooting. They also recorded 11 assists in this game while forcing the opposition into 20 turnovers and earning 12 steals. When talking about rebounding, they collected a total of 20 with 5 of them being offensive. From the charity stripe, the Eagles converted 28 of their 38 shots for a rate of 73.7%. North Carolina Central ended with a 55.6% field goal percentage (25 out of 45) and made 4 of their 9 shots from beyond the arc.

Perry Smith is a player who was a major contributor for the game. He finished 100.0% from the floor but had no assists when the time ran out. He played 23 minutes and also pulled down 5 boards. He scored 17 points on 6 of 6 shooting.

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North Carolina Central comes into this contest with a win-loss record of 4-5 on the year. They are averaging 76.3 points per game (152nd in the nation) while shooting 45.3% from the floor. The Eagles are shooting 30.4% on 3-pointers (63 of 207) and 71.0% from the charity stripe. As a team, North Carolina Central is pulling down 34.3 boards per game and has totaled 119 assists for the campaign, which is 89th in the nation in terms of passing the ball. They are turning it over 11.9 times per contest and as a squad are committing 17.0 fouls every game.

On defense, the Eagles are able to force 16.0 turnovers per game and they draw 16.7 personal fouls. They are relinquishing 29.2% on 3-pointers while they are 154th in the country in PPG allowed (69.4). The Eagles defense is allowing a field goal percentage of 42.5% (219 of 515) and they relinquish 36.1 rebounds per contest as a squad. They are currently ranked 327th in Division 1 in allowing assists to the opposition with 125 conceded on the year.

When they last stepped on the court, the Virginia Cavaliers walked away with a victory by a final of 84-62 when they played Syracuse. When talking about how they attacked the glass, Virginia allowed Syracuse to snag 24 in total (8 on the offensive glass). They finished 25.0% from 3-point land by shooting 5 out of 20 and finished the contest at 13 of 19 from the free throw line (68.4%). The Cavaliers allowed Syracuse to make 22 out of their 54 tries from the field which gave them a percentage of 40.7% for the matchup. When the final whistle was blown, the Cavaliers ended up going 30 for 55 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 54.5%. Concerning shots from distance, Virginia buried 12 out of their 21 tries (57.1%). They were able to bury 12 of the free throw attempts for a rate of 80.0%. Syracuse committed 14 fouls in this game which got the Cavaliers to the charity stripe for a total of 15 tries. They gave up possession of the ball 9 times, while getting 8 steals in this game. The Cavaliers pulled down 20 defensive boards and 8 offensive boards for a total of 28 in this contest.

Isaac McKneely ended up being a major contributor for the Cavaliers in this game. He racked up 22 points in his 26 mins on the court and had 2 dimes in this game. He converted 8 out of 11 for this contest for a field goal percentage of 72.7%, and had 5 rebounds.

Virginia has a win-loss record of 7-1 this season. As an offensive team, the Cavaliers are shooting 45.4% from the floor, which ranks them 149th in the country. Virginia has scored 535 pts for the campaign (66.9 per contest) and they average 32.3 rebounds per game. Their rate of earning assists is at 15.0 times per contest (91st in D-1) and they turn the ball over 8.8 times per contest. The Cavaliers commit 13.5 personal fouls per contest and they hit 69.4% from the charity stripe.

The Virginia defense allows 26.9% on 3-point shots (45 of 167) and their opponents are making 71.2% of their free throw attempts. They concede 10.5 assists and 36.3 total boards per game, which has them ranked 67th and 232nd in D-1. The Cavaliers defensively are ranked 3rd in Division 1 in points given up per game with 54.0. They are forcing 14.8 TO's per game and have let teams shoot 35.4% from the floor (4th in college basketball).

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Virginia

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