Longwood Lancers vs SMU Mustangs Prediction, 12/28/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Longwood Lancers vs SMU Mustangs

Date: Saturday, December 28, 2024

Location: Moody Coliseum in Dallas, TX

TV: ESPN+

The Longwood Lancers (11-3) are en route to Moody Coliseum on Saturday where they will play the SMU Mustangs (10-2).

The Longwood Lancers took the court against North Carolina Central and earned the victory with a final of 82-67 in their last contest. Longwood ended the contest with a 54.0% field goal percentage (27 out of 50) and converted 9 of their 22 3-pointers. At the charity stripe, the Lancers made 19 of 27 shots for a rate of 70.4%. When discussing rebounding, they compiled 31 with 8 of them being on the offensive end. They also dished out 13 assists for this contest in addition to forcing the other team into 12 turnovers and getting 4 steals. Regarding defense, Longwood let their opponent shoot 47.3% from the floor on 26 of 55 shooting. North Carolina Central earned 15 assists and had 9 steals for the matchup. Additionally, North Carolina Central grabbed 21 rebounds (8 offensive, 13 defensive), but finished the game with no rejections. North Carolina Central walked away from this one shooting 47.8% when shooting free throws by making 11 of their 23 attempts. They also made 4 of their 22 tries from 3-point land. With respect to fouls, the Lancers ended up finishing with 21 while North Carolina Central recorded 21 fouls.

Colby Garland is a player who had an impact for this game. He ended up finishing with 17 points on 6 of 11 shooting. He was on the court for 34 mins and also collected 5 rebounds. He finished shooting 54.5% from the floor and dished out 4 assists.

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Longwood will take the court with a win-loss mark of 11-3 on the season. They are averaging 78.9 points per outing (97th in D-1) while connecting on 45.9% from the field. The Lancers are connecting on 30.0% on shots from beyond the arc (90 of 300) and 74.4% from the charity stripe. As a team, Longwood is collecting 36.6 boards per contest and has earned 191 assists for the campaign, which ranks 116th in college hoops in terms of passing the ball. They lose possession by turning the ball over 12.9 times per contest and as a team they are committing 17.9 fouls on a nightly basis.

Defensively, the Lancers have forced 16.4 turnovers every game while drawing 21.1 personal fouls. They rank 219th in D-1 in giving up assists with 167 surrendered on the season. The Lancers defense is giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 45.4% (343 of 756) and they relinquish 31.0 boards per contest as a team. They give up 29.7% on three-point shots and they rank 69th in Division 1 in opponents points per game (66.6).

When they last stepped on the court, the SMU Mustangs got the win with a final of 103-77 against Boston College. When it comes to team rebounding, SMU allowed Boston College to pull down 31 overall (17 offensive). They went 38.9% from 3-point land by going 7 out of 18 and finished the game at 24 out of 33 from the free throw line (72.7%). The Mustangs allowed Boston College to make 23 of 61 attempts from the floor which gave them a rate of 37.7% for this game. When the game finished, the Mustangs shot 38 out of 59 from the floor which had them shooting 64.4%. Pertaining to three-point attempts, SMU knocked down 11 of their 16 attempts (68.8%). They were able to make 16 of those for a percentage of 80.0%. Boston College was called for 17 fouls in this matchup which got the Mustangs to the charity stripe for a total of 20 shots. They also turned it over 10 times, while getting 6 steals for the matchup. The Mustangs corralled 22 defensive boards and 7 offensive rebounds totaling 29 for the contest.

Matt Cross ended up being a major contributor for the Mustangs for this contest. He totaled 20 points in his 32 mins on the court and tallied 3 assists for the game. He made 7 out of 9 for this contest for a rate of 77.8%, and had 8 rebounds.

SMU has a win-loss mark of 10-2 so far this year. The Mustangs have committed 17.5 personal fouls every game and they shoot 74.0% from the charity stripe. They are dishing out assists 16.3 times per contest (64th in the country) and they turn the ball over 11.5 times per game. SMU has earned 1,035 pts on the year (86.3 per contest) and they collect 41.5 rebounds per game. As an offensive team, the Mustangs are shooting 48.8% from the field, which has them ranked 45th in college hoops.

The Mustangs defensively are ranked 145th in college hoops in PPG allowed with 69.8. They are able to force 13.3 turnovers on a nightly basis and allow teams to shoot 38.8% from the field (31st in Division 1). The SMU defense gives up 34.1% from downtown (98 of 287) and their opponents are connecting on 74.1% of their shots from the charity stripe. They have conceded 13.3 dimes and 32.3 total rebounds per game, which ranks them 203rd and 82nd in those categories on the defensive end.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take SMU

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