Sam Houston State Bearkats vs UTEP Miners Prediction, 2/24/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Sam Houston State Bearkats vs UTEP Miners

Date: Saturday, February 24, 2024

Location: Don Haskins Center in El Paso, TX

TV: ESPN+

The Sam Houston State Bearkats (15-11) are traveling to Don Haskins Center on Saturday where they will try to beat the UTEP Miners (13-13).

The Sam Houston State Bearkats stepped onto the hardwood against Liberty and earned the victory with a final of 83-73 in their last contest. Concerning fouls, the Bearkats ended up with 22 while Liberty finished the game with 23 fouls. They converted 10 out of their 29 tries from beyond the arc. Liberty finished 73.9% at the charity stripe by knocking down 17 of 23 tries. Moreover, Liberty snagged 27 boards (6 offensive, 21 defensive), but finished the game with no rejections. Liberty totaled 12 dimes and had 4 steals in the game. In terms of the defense, Sam Houston State allowed the other team to go 41.1% from the field on 23 out of 56 shooting. They also dished out 13 assists for this contest in addition to creating 12 turnovers and earning 4 steals. Regarding getting rebounds, they earned a total of 29 with 2 of them being on the offensive end. At the free throw line, the Bearkats converted 18 of their 24 attempts for a rate of 75.0%. Sam Houston State wrapped up the game having earned a 54.9% field goal percentage (28 out of 51) and knocked down 9 out of their 22 shots from beyond the arc.

Davon Barnes is a guy who was important for this contest. He left the arena with 16 points on 5 of 9 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 34 mins played and also pulled down 5 rebounds. He shot 55.6% from the floor and earned 1 assist.

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Sam Houston State will enter this game with a record of 15-11 for the year. They turn it over 13.3 times per contest and as a unit are committing 17.5 fouls on a nightly basis. As a team, Sam Houston State is grabbing 38.3 rebounds per game and has accumulated 340 assists for the campaign, which is 207th in D-1 in terms of passing the ball. The Bearkats are hitting 34.3% on shots from downtown (193 of 562) and 71.7% from the charity stripe. They average 71.6 pts per contest (248th in the country) while going 41.5% from the field.

On the defensive end of the court, the Bearkats are forcing their opponents into 13.7 turnovers per game while drawing 17.5 fouls. They are ranked 235th in D-1 in allowing assists with 353 relinquished on the year. The Bearkats defensively are giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 43.4% (652 of 1,503) and they concede 35.8 rebounds per contest as a squad. They concede 31.7% on shots from downtown and they rank 147th in college hoops in points per game allowed (70.9).

The last time they took the hardwood, the UTEP Miners took a loss by a score of 96-90 against MTSU. When discussing how they cleaned up the glass, UTEP allowed MTSU to snag 35 overall (9 on the offensive side). They finished shooting 58.3% from 3-point land via 14 of 24 and finished the contest at 28 of 32 at the charity stripe (87.5%). The Miners permitted MTSU to knock down 27 of 55 tries from the floor which gave them a percentage of 49.1% for the matchup. When the final whistle blew, the Miners went 32 out of 80 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 40.0%. In relation to shots from distance, UTEP converted 5 out of their 18 tries (27.8%). They were able to make 21 of them for a rate of 84.0%. MTSU earned 19 fouls in the matchup which got the Miners to the free throw line for a total of 25 tries. They gave up possession of the ball 9 times, while getting 15 steals in this matchup. The Miners were able to pull down 17 defensive boards and 11 offensive boards for a total of 28 for the game.

Tae Hardy ended up being a factor for the Miners in this contest. He earned 24 points in his 41 mins of playing time and had 1 assist for this contest. He buried 8 of 23 for this game for a field goal rate of 34.8%, and had 1 rebound.

UTEP has a record of 13-13 for the campaign. In terms of offensive execution, the Miners are connecting on 44.4% from the field, which ranks them 197th in the nation. UTEP has scored 1,933 pts so far this year (74.3 per contest) and they average 33.6 rebounds per game. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 13.1 times per game (192nd in college basketball) and they turn it over 14.8 times per game. The Miners are responsible for committing 20.0 personal fouls per game and they hit 69.0% from the free throw line.

The UTEP defense concedes 32.2% on 3-point shots (147 of 457) and their opponents are connecting on 71.5% of their shots from the free throw line. They have surrendered 11.2 dimes and 35.1 boards on a nightly basis, which ranks them 57th and 196th in Division 1. The Miners defensively are ranked 135th in Division 1 in points per game surrendered with 70.3. They have forced 19.3 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 45.4% from the floor (299th in the country).

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take UTEP

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