Maine Black Bears vs Vermont Catamounts Prediction, 1/6/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Maine Black Bears vs Vermont Catamounts

Date: Saturday, January 6, 2024

Location: Patrick Gymnasium in Burlington, VT

TV: ESPN+

The Vermont Catamounts (10-5) host the Maine Black Bears (8-7) at Patrick Gymnasium on Saturday.

The Maine Black Bears played Minnesota and ended up losing by a score of 80-62 in their last contest. Maine finished the contest having earned a 44.1% field goal percentage (26 of 59) and made 5 of their 19 3-point shots. At the free throw line, the Black Bears made 5 of 6 shots for a rate of 83.3%. With regard to grabbing boards, they earned 28 with 6 of them being of the offensive variety. They also recorded 16 assists in this contest in addition to forcing the opposition into 10 turnovers and getting 4 steals. Concerning the defense, Maine allowed the other team to go 50.9% from the field on 29 of 57 shooting. Minnesota earned 23 assists and had 8 steals in this matchup. Moreover, Minnesota snagged 30 rebounds (6 offensive, 24 defensive), but wasn't able to put a block in the stat sheet. Minnesota finished the game at 57.9% from the charity stripe by knocking down 11 of 19 attempts. They also made 11 of their 24 attempts from long range. When discussing personal fouls, the Black Bears ended up finishing with 19 while Minnesota totaled 13 personal fouls.

Peter Filipovity is one player who played a role for the contest. He ended up scoring 16 points on 6 out of 9 shooting. He saw the court for 28 mins and grabbed 13 boards. He finished shooting 66.7% from the field and also earned 1 assist.

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Maine enters this one with a win-loss record of 8-7 this season. They are losing possession via turnover 11.1 times per game and as a team they commit 16.7 fouls every game. As a team, Maine is pulling in 32.1 boards per game and has earned 199 assists for the season, which is 140th in Division 1 in terms of passing the ball. The Black Bears are connecting on 28.8% on shots from downtown (80 of 278) and 72.7% from the free throw line. They are averaging 68.8 pts per game (304th in college hoops) while hitting 46.0% from the field.

Defensively, the Black Bears are able to force 13.7 turnovers every game and they draw 15.3 personal fouls. They rank 278th in Division 1 in allowing assists with 195 surrendered for the year. The Black Bears are giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 43.5% (361 of 830) and they concede 35.1 rebounds per game as a unit. They are conceding 32.3% on shots from downtown and they are 80th in the nation in points per game allowed (66.3).

In their last game, the Vermont Catamounts got the victory with a final of 71-70 against Brown. When discussing rebounds, Vermont permitted Brown to pull down 33 overall (8 offensive). They shot 60.0% from behind the 3-point line by going 9 of 15 and finished the contest at 13 of 19 at the free throw line (68.4%). The Catamounts allowed Brown to convert 24 of their 51 attempts from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 47.1% for this game. In all, the Catamounts ended up going 25 out of 59 from the field which gave them a percentage of 42.4%. When talking about shots from downtown, Vermont made 7 out of their 22 attempts (31.8%). They were able to make 14 of the free throws for a rate of 87.5%. Brown was called for 14 fouls for this contest which got the Catamounts to the charity stripe for 16 tries. They also gave up possession 2 times, while getting 3 steals for the matchup. The Catamounts collected 16 defensive rebounds and 6 offensive boards for a total of 22 in this contest.

Matt Veretto was important for the Catamounts in the game. He made 7 of 13 for this game for a rate of 53.8%, and had 1 rebound. He scored 16 points in his 22 minutes on the court and tallied 1 assist in this matchup.

Vermont has a record of 10-5 on the campaign. In terms of offensive execution, the Catamounts are connecting on 47.7% from the field, which has them ranked 52nd in D-1. Vermont has tallied 1,098 pts on the season (73.2 per contest) and they snag 33.5 rebounds per contest. Their rate of earning assists is at 13.7 times per game (173rd in the nation) and they are turning it over 9.5 times per contest. The Catamounts are committing 14.4 fouls per game and they hit 68.5% from the charity stripe.

The Catamounts on the defensive side of the court are 50th in the country in PPG given up with 64.9. They are forcing 9.3 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 41.5% from the field (118th in college basketball). The Vermont defense surrenders 33.8% on shots from beyond the perimeter (101 of 299) and opponents are making 70.8% of their free throw attempts. They have allowed 9.9 assists and 33.1 boards every game, which is ranked 20th and 90th in college hoops.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Maine

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