Creighton Bluejays vs UConn Huskies Prediction, 1/17/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Creighton Bluejays vs UConn Huskies

Date: Wednesday, January 17, 2024

Location: Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, CT

TV: ESPN+

The UConn Huskies (15-2) are hosting the Creighton Bluejays (13-4) at Gampel Pavilion on Wednesday.

The Creighton Bluejays stepped onto the hardwood against St. John's and walked away with a win by a score of 66-65 in their last contest. Creighton ended the contest with a 36.7% field goal percentage (22 of 60) and knocked down 6 of their 27 shots from downtown. From the charity stripe, the Bluejays knocked down 16 of 21 tries for a percentage of 76.2%. With regard to grabbing rebounds, they compiled 40 with 11 of them being on the offensive end. They also doled out 12 assists for this contest while forcing the opposition into 7 turnovers and earning 4 steals. When talking about defense, Creighton allowed the other team to go 40.6% from the field on 28 out of 69 shooting. St. John's totaled 10 assists and had 2 steals in this game. On top of that, St. John's pulled down 41 boards (12 offensive, 29 defensive), but finished the game with no rejections. St. John's finished the game shooting 87.5% from the free throw line by making 7 of their 8 attempts. They knocked down 2 out of their 11 tries from long range. When it comes to fouls, the Bluejays finished with 8 while St. John's totaled 20 fouls.

Ryan Kalkbrenner is one guy who was a contributor for the matchup. He racked up 18 points on 6 of 11 shooting. He saw the court for 38 minutes played and also pulled down 9 rebounds. He ended up going 54.5% from the field and also earned 1 assist.

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Creighton comes into this game with a win-loss record of 13-4 on the campaign. They have an average of 79.9 pts per game (60th in college hoops) while hitting 49.0% from the field. The Bluejays are connecting on 36.0% on shots from beyond the arc (177 of 491) and 75.4% from the free throw line. As a team, Creighton is collecting 39.8 boards per contest and has racked up 283 assists for the year, which ranks 29th in college hoops in terms of passing the ball. They turn it over 11.0 times per contest and as a unit they commit 10.8 personal fouls on a nightly basis.

When they are on defense, the Bluejays are able to force 7.8 turnovers per contest while drawing 14.6 personal fouls. They are ranked 22nd in the nation in giving up assists with 172 surrendered on the campaign. The Bluejays defense is allowing an opponent shooting percentage of 40.8% (454 of 1,114) and they concede 32.0 boards per game as a team. They concede 30.2% from beyond the arc and they are 52nd in college basketball in points per game allowed (65.6).

In their last game, the UConn Huskies took home the win by a final score of 80-67 against Georgetown. The Huskies earned 21 defensive rebounds and 7 offensive rebounds for a total of 28 for the game. They also coughed up the ball 10 times, while recording 5 steals in this game. Georgetown had 21 fouls in the game which got the Huskies to the charity stripe for a total of 25 attempts. They were able to make 19 of the free throw attempts for a clip of 76.0%. In reference to shots from beyond the arc, UConn made 13 out of their 24 attempts (54.2%). In all, the Huskies shot 24 for 47 from the floor which gave them a rate of 51.1%. The Huskies permitted Georgetown to make 17 of their 50 attempts from the field which had them at 34.0% for the contest. They went 25.0% from three-point range by going 4 of 16 and ended up shooting 29 out of 38 at the free throw line (76.3%). With respect to rebounds, UConn permitted Georgetown to grab 27 in all (13 offensive).

Alex Karaban pitched in for the Huskies in this matchup. He earned 26 points in his 38 mins of playing time and accounted for 2 assists for the matchup. He buried 9 out of 13 for the matchup for a field goal rate of 69.2%, and had 5 rebounds.

UConn has a win-loss mark of 15-2 this year. The Huskies are committing 17.5 fouls per game and they go 72.9% from the free throw line. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 18.5 times per contest (11th in the nation) and they are giving up possession 10.6 times per game. UConn has accounted for 1,412 points this season (83.1 per game) and they grab 38.0 rebounds per contest. When it comes to executing on offense, the Huskies are shooting 50.8% from the floor, which ranks them 6th in the nation.

The Huskies on the defensive side of the court are 49th in college hoops in points given up per game with 65.5. They have forced 11.4 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 39.9% from the floor (41st in college hoops). The UConn defense gives up 34.2% on three-point shots (100 of 292) and opponents are making 71.4% of their shots from the charity stripe. They surrender 10.7 dimes and 29.5 boards on a nightly basis, which has them ranked 40th and 8th in the nation.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take UConn

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