Bucknell Bison vs American Eagles Prediction, 3/7/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Bucknell Bison vs American Eagles

Date: Thursday, March 7, 2024

Location: Bender Arena in Washington, DC

TV: ESPN+

The Bucknell Bison (13-18) are en route to Bender Arena on Thursday where they will take on the American Eagles (16-15).

The Bucknell Bison played Lafayette and went home with a win by a final score of 60-50 in their last contest. Bucknell ended the contest having earned a 38.6% FG percentage (22 out of 57) and converted 5 out of their 27 shots from 3-point land. When they shot from the free throw line, the Bison buried 11 of their 15 shots for a percentage of 73.3%. With respect to rebounding, they collected 34 with 12 of them being on the offensive end. They also recorded 13 assists in this game while forcing the other team into 10 turnovers and getting 5 steals. Concerning defending, Bucknell allowed the other team to go 35.1% from the field on 20 of 57 shooting. Lafayette recorded 13 assists and had 6 steals for the contest. Additionally, Lafayette collected 33 rebounds (12 offensive, 21 defensive), but didn't notch a block. Lafayette went 37.5% at the free throw line by making 3 of 8 tries. They buried 7 of 29 tries from three-point range. When it comes to personal fouls, the Bison finished with 10 while Lafayette totaled 16 personal fouls.

Ruot Bijiek is one player who came through for the matchup. He ended up going 50.0% from the floor and also dished out 1 assist. He was on the court for 24 minutes and also grabbed 6 rebounds. He ended up finishing with 12 points on 5 out of 10 shooting.

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Bucknell will enter this game with a record of 13-18 for the year. They are turning it over 12.6 times per game and as a team are committing 16.7 fouls on a nightly basis. As a unit, Bucknell is pulling down 32.3 rebounds per contest and has racked up 378 assists for the season, which ranks 219th in the country in terms of passing the rock. The Bison are shooting 33.9% on 3-point shots (251 of 741) and 71.2% from the free throw line. They have an average of 64.8 points per outing (349th in Division 1) while hitting 42.8% from the floor.

On the defensive end of the court, the Bison are forcing 10.8 turnovers every game and they draw 16.0 personal fouls. They give up 33.1% on 3-pointers while they are 64th in D-1 in PPG allowed (67.5). The Bison defense is allowing and opponent field goal percentage of 42.9% (742 of 1,729) and they concede 33.7 rebounds per game as a group. They are 325th in college basketball in allowing assists to the opposition with 450 surrendered for the campaign.

For their last game, the American Eagles took a loss by a score of 71-65 against Navy. In relation to how they cleaned up the glass, American permitted Navy to grab 26 overall (7 on the offensive side). They finished shooting 56.3% from distance by connecting on 9 of 16 and ended up shooting 12 of 16 from the charity stripe (75.0%). The Eagles permitted Navy to convert 25 out of 45 tries from the floor which gave them a rate of 55.6% for this contest. When the final whistle blew, the Eagles finished shooting 25 out of 58 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 43.1%. With regard to shooting from distance, American knocked down 4 of their 22 tries (18.2%). They were able to bury 11 of the free throw attempts for a clip of 73.3%. Navy was called for 18 fouls in this game which got the Eagles to the free throw line for a total of 15 attempts. They turned the ball over 8 times, while earning 9 steals in the matchup. The Eagles pulled down 15 defensive rebounds and 6 offensive rebounds totaling 21 for this game.

Matt Rogers pitched in for the Eagles in this matchup. He converted 10 out of 20 in the matchup for a field goal rate of 50.0%, and had 6 rebounds. He scored 23 points in his 37 mins on the court and earned 3 assists in this game.

American has a win-loss record of 16-15 so far this season. On the offensive side of the ball, the Eagles are hitting on 45.2% from the field, which ranks them 144th in D-1. American has accumulated 2,143 pts on the campaign (69.1 per game) and they average 32.6 boards per contest. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 14.2 times per game (114th in college basketball) and they are turning it over 10.8 times per contest. The Eagles have committed 16.4 fouls per game while shooting 71.8% from the free throw line.

The American defense surrenders 37.1% on shots from distance (263 of 708) and their opposition makes 68.9% of their foul shots. They have relinquished 12.6 assists and 30.5 rebounds per contest, which ranks them 155th and 14th in Division 1. The Eagles are ranked 66th in the nation in points allowed per game with 67.6. They are forcing 11.0 TO's every game and allow teams to shoot 45.4% from the floor (285th in college hoops).

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take American

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