Northern Colorado Bears vs Air Force Falcons Prediction, 12/21/2023 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Northern Colorado Bears vs Air Force Falcons

Date: Thursday, December 21, 2023

Location: Clune Arena in Colorado Springs, CO

TV: ESPN+

The Air Force Falcons (7-4) will play the Northern Colorado Bears (4-6) at Clune Arena on Thursday.

The Northern Colorado Bears took the court against Colorado and took a loss by a final of 90-68 in their last contest. Regarding personal fouls, the Bears ended up finishing with 14 while Colorado totaled 14 personal fouls. They also converted 9 of their 27 tries from three-point range. Colorado walked away from this one shooting 84.6% from the charity stripe by knocking down 11 of their 13 shots. On top of that, Colorado collected 41 boards (11 offensive, 30 defensive), but finished the game with no rejections. Colorado distributed 23 dimes and had 9 steals for the game. Concerning defense, Northern Colorado allowed 49.3% from the floor on 35 out of 71 shooting. They also doled out 10 assists in the game in addition to forcing the other team into 12 turnovers and getting 9 steals. In relation to getting rebounds, they earned 31 with 7 of them being of the offensive variety. At the charity stripe, the Bears buried 15 of 20 shots for a rate of 75.0%. Northern Colorado walked away from the contest having earned a 41.7% field goal percentage (25 out of 60) and made 3 of their 21 shots from distance.

Saint Thomas is one guy who had an impact for the matchup. He ended up shooting 45.5% from the field and dished out 1 assist. He played for 37 mins played and grabbed 9 boards. He totaled 27 points on 10 of 22 shooting.

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Northern Colorado will enter this matchup with a mark of 4-6 this year. They have an average of 76.3 pts per game (149th in the country) while shooting 42.7% from the floor. The Bears are connecting on 30.4% on shots from beyond the arc (83 of 273) and 71.0% from the charity stripe. As a team, Northern Colorado is pulling down 36.9 rebounds per contest and is sitting with 132 assists for the season, which has them ranked 263rd in college basketball in terms of passing the rock. They turn it over 12.7 times per game and as a team are committing 16.4 personal fouls on a nightly basis.

Defensively, the Bears have forced 13.9 turnovers per game while drawing 18.9 fouls. They are currently ranked 129th in the nation in allowing assists to their opponents with 129 conceded this season. The Bears defensively are allowing an opponent FG percentage of 43.9% (272 of 620) and they concede 38.7 boards per contest as a squad. They are giving up 35.2% on three-point shots while they are 309th in college basketball in points per game from their opponents (76.9).

In their last game, the Air Force Falcons went home defeated by a final of 76-73 when they played UT Arlington. The Falcons collected 20 defensive boards and 4 offensive boards totaling 24 in this matchup. They turned the ball over 18 times, while recording 12 steals for the matchup. UT Arlington earned 21 fouls in the game which got the Falcons to the charity stripe for a total of 22 shots. They were able to convert 16 of those for a percentage of 72.7%. In terms of shooting from 3-point land, Air Force made 5 out of 17 attempts (29.4%). When the game finished, the Falcons went 26 for 50 from the floor which gave them a rate of 52.0%. The Falcons allowed UT Arlington to convert 24 of 55 attempts from the field which gave them a percentage of 43.6% for this game. They finished the game shooting 37.5% from 3-point land by going 9 of 24 and ended up shooting 19 of 22 from the free throw line (86.4%). Regarding how they rebounded, Air Force permitted UT Arlington to get 31 in all (11 on the offensive glass).

Rytis Petraitis pitched in for the Falcons in this contest. He scored 21 points in his 32 mins on the court and tallied 3 dimes for this game. He made 7 out of 11 in this contest giving him a rate of 63.6%, and had 7 rebounds.

Air Force has a record of 7-4 this year. The Falcons have committed 16.8 fouls per contest and they hit 67.8% from the charity stripe. They are dishing out assists 15.1 times per contest (95th in college hoops) and they turn the ball over 12.7 times per game. Air Force has tallied 751 points this year (68.3 per game) and they collect 32.6 boards per game. As an offense, the Falcons are shooting 45.5% from the field, which ranks them 154th in the nation.

The Falcons defensively are ranked 30th in the country in points allowed per contest with 63.4. They are forcing 13.8 turnovers on a nightly basis and have let teams shoot 40.5% from the floor (73rd in the country). The Air Force defense gives up 33.0% on shots from 3-point land (74 of 224) and their opponents are connecting on 70.9% of their free throw attempts. They relinquish 10.9 assists and 33.6 rebounds per game, which is 65th and 126th in Division 1.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Northern Colorado

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