La Salle Explorers vs UMass Minutemen Prediction, 1/10/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: La Salle Explorers vs UMass Minutemen

Date: Wednesday, January 10, 2024

Location: William D. Mullins Memorial Center in Amherst, MA

TV: ESPN+

The UMass Minutemen (10-4) will play the La Salle Explorers (10-5) at William D. Mullins Memorial Center on Wednesday.

The La Salle Explorers faced Fordham and notched a win by a score of 81-76 in their last contest. La Salle ended the contest with a 43.9% FG percentage (25 out of 57) and converted 6 of 15 shots from distance. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Explorers buried 25 of their 30 attempts for a rate of 83.3%. In terms of pulling down rebounds, they collected a total of 34 with 12 of them being of the offensive variety. They also dished out 17 assists in this game as well as forcing 12 turnovers and earning 6 steals. In the matter of the defense, La Salle allowed 42.2% from the field on 27 of 64 shooting. Fordham doled out 15 dimes and had 12 steals in this matchup. On top of that, Fordham had 31 boards (13 offensive, 18 defensive), but wasn't able to record a rejection. Fordham finished 61.9% at the free throw line by making 13 of their 21 shots. They also converted 9 out of their 24 shots from long range. Regarding fouls, the Explorers ended up finishing with 18 and Fordham totaled 22 fouls.

Daeshon Shepherd is someone who was a major contributor for this contest. He racked up 15 points on 4 of 9 shooting. He played 38 minutes played and also totaled 8 rebounds. He walked away from this one shooting 44.4% from the floor and also dished out 1 assist.

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La Salle heads into this one with a record of 10-5 so far this season. They currently have an average of 77.0 pts per game (128th in college basketball) while hitting 44.5% from the floor. The Explorers are hitting 35.4% on shots beyond the perimeter (135 of 381) and 73.7% from the charity stripe. As a unit, La Salle is snagging 35.1 boards per contest and has 237 assists for the year, which ranks 64th in college basketball in terms of passing the ball. They lose possession by turning the ball over 9.9 times per contest and as a basketball team are committing 16.7 fouls per contest.

When they are on defense, the Explorers have forced 12.3 turnovers per game while drawing 16.3 fouls. They are giving up 34.3% on 3-point shots and they rank 216th in the country in opponents PPG (72.4). The Explorers defense is giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 44.0% (401 of 912) and they relinquish 37.9 rebounds per game as a group. They are currently ranked 262nd in D-1 in allowing assists to the opposition with 210 conceded this season.

In their last game, the UMass Minutemen took a defeat with a final score of 64-60 against Dayton. When it comes to cleaning the glass, UMass permitted Dayton to collect 29 in total (6 on the offensive glass). They went 34.5% from distance by connecting on 10 out of 29 and walked away from this one shooting 18 out of 21 at the free throw line (85.7%). The Minutemen allowed Dayton to make 18 of 47 tries from the floor which had them shooting 38.3% for the contest. When the game finished, the Minutemen went 24 out of 66 from the field which had them shooting 36.4%. In terms of three-point shots, UMass converted 3 of their 22 tries (13.6%). They were able to make 9 of the free throw tries for a percentage of 60.0%. Dayton committed 11 fouls in the matchup which took the Minutemen to the charity stripe for 15 shots. They also gave up possession of the ball 8 times, while earning 7 steals for this contest. The Minutemen recorded 23 defensive boards and 18 offensive boards for a total of 41 in the game.

Matt Cross ended up having an impact for the Minutemen for the contest. He accumulated 18 points in his 30 minutes on the court and had 2 assists for the matchup. He knocked down 7 out of 11 for the contest giving him a rate of 63.6%, and added 14 rebounds.

UMass has a win-loss record of 10-4 for the season. On the offensive side of the court, the Minutemen are hitting on 46.5% from the field, which ranks them 106th in the country. UMass has accumulated 1,149 points so far this season (82.1 per contest) and they collect 38.8 boards per game. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 17.1 times per game (26th in the nation) and they turn it over 11.2 times per game. The Minutemen are committing 19.9 fouls every game and they hit 68.5% from the free throw line.

The UMass defense concedes 31.5% on three-point shots (98 of 311) and their opponents are knocking down 72.9% of their shots from the free throw line. They have surrendered 11.9 dimes and 35.0 boards on a nightly basis, which is ranked 112th and 185th in those categories on the defensive end. The Minutemen on defense are ranked 162nd in college hoops in points per game surrendered with 70.7. They have forced 15.2 turnovers per game and have let teams shoot 40.5% from the floor (68th in college hoops).

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take La Salle

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