Evansville Purple Aces vs Ball State Cardinals Prediction, 12/21/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Evansville Purple Aces vs Ball State Cardinals

Date: Saturday, December 21, 2024

Location: Worthen Arena in Muncie, IN

TV: ESPN+

Worthen Arena is where the Ball State Cardinals (4-6) will take on the Evansville Purple Aces (3-8) on Saturday.

The Evansville Purple Aces stepped onto the hardwood against UT Arlington and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 80-54 in their last game. When it comes to fouls, the Purple Aces walked away with 24 and UT Arlington recorded 19 fouls. They also buried 11 out of their 30 tries from 3-point range. UT Arlington went 75.0% from the charity stripe by making 27 of their 36 shots. Additionally, UT Arlington pulled down 46 rebounds (14 offensive, 32 defensive), but finished the game with no rejections. UT Arlington doled out 12 dimes and had 6 steals for the contest. When it comes to defense, Evansville allowed 38.9% from the field on 21 of 54 shooting. They also recorded 10 assists for the contest as well as creating 16 turnovers and getting 8 steals. In the matter of rebounding, they collected 22 with 7 of them being on the offensive end. From the free throw line, the Purple Aces knocked down 16 of their 23 attempts for a rate of 69.6%. Evansville ended having earned a 30.9% field goal percentage (17 of 55) and converted 4 out of their 24 shots from beyond the perimeter.

Tayshawn Comer is a guy who played a role in this contest. He ended up walking away with 20 points on 6 out of 15 shooting. He played for 40 mins played and pulled down 1 board. He finished shooting 40.0% from the field and dished out 4 dimes.

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Evansville heads into this matchup with a mark of 3-8 so far this year. They are turning it over 11.9 times per game and as a team they commit 17.0 personal fouls every game. As a unit, Evansville is snagging 32.1 boards per contest and has totaled 153 assists for the year, which is 216th in the country in terms of passing. The Purple Aces are connecting on 29.4% on shots from downtown (87 of 296) and 67.2% from the free throw line. They average 67.6 points per contest (324th in college) while hitting 42.6% from the field.

On defense, the Purple Aces are forcing their opponents into 12.1 turnovers per contest while drawing 14.2 fouls. They rank 82nd in the country in giving up assists with 127 relinquished for the season. The Purple Aces defense is giving up a field goal percentage of 44.3% (277 of 625) and they relinquish 37.6 boards per game as a group. They are conceding 33.6% from 3-point land and they rank 254th in Division 1 in PPG from their opponents (73.8).

When they last stepped on the court, the Ball State Cardinals took home the win by a final score of 86-82 when they played Bellarmine. In reference to team rebounding, Ball State allowed Bellarmine to get 26 in total (11 on the offensive side). They went 37.9% from three-point range by going 11 of 29 and ended up shooting 13 of 15 at the free throw line (86.7%). The Cardinals allowed Bellarmine to convert 29 out of 61 attempts from the field which gave them a rate of 47.5% for the matchup. When the final whistle blew, the Cardinals walked away from this one shooting 26 out of 48 from the floor which gave them a rate of 54.2%. Pertaining to shooting from 3-point land, Ball State knocked down 10 of 19 tries (52.6%). They were able to make 24 of the free throw tries for a rate of 75.0%. Bellarmine was called for 20 fouls in this matchup which took the Cardinals to the charity stripe for 32 tries. They also coughed it up 8 times, while earning 8 steals for this game. The Cardinals were able to corral 19 defensive rebounds and 6 offensive rebounds totaling 25 in this game.

Juan Sebastian Gorosito ended up having an impact for the Cardinals in this matchup. He knocked down 7 of 14 for this contest for a field goal rate of 50.0%, and had 3 rebounds. He had 21 points in his 36 minutes on the court and had 4 dimes in the game.

Ball State has a mark of 4-6 for the campaign. The Cardinals are committing 17.5 fouls per contest and they connect on 69.4% from the charity stripe. Their rate of assisting teammates is at 11.9 times per game (303rd in the nation) and they turn it over 11.3 times per contest. Ball State has scored 737 pts for the season (73.7 per game) and they average 34.6 rebounds per game. As an offensive unit, the Cardinals are shooting 43.9% from the floor, which is ranked 234th in the country.

The Cardinals on the defensive end are ranked 221st in college in points given up per game with 72.7. They are forcing their opponents into 10.9 turnovers per game and have let teams shoot 42.3% from the floor (149th in college hoops). The Ball State defense concedes 34.1% on shots from beyond the arc (76 of 223) and their opponents are knocking down 74.7% of their foul shots. They have given up 13.3 assists and 36.8 boards every game, which is ranked 205th and 290th in the country.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Ball State

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