Check out our free Cleveland State vs Loyola Marymount pick and preview for this NCAA Basketball game in Los Angeles. See who we like to win and cover the spread in this College Basketball matchup.

Cleveland State vs Loyola Marymount Pick & Preview: Sunday, December 18th Betting Odds

Vikings vs Lions Matchup at a Glance

  • Sport: NCAAB
  • Teams: Cleveland State Vikings at Loyola Marymount Lions
  • Where: Los Angeles at Gersten Pavilion
  • Date: Sunday, December 18th
  • Betting Odds: Cleveland State +8.5, CLVST +320 | LOYMRY -416 O/U 135.5

Vikings Preview:

The Cleveland State Vikings head into today’s game in what will be their 12th game of the season, posting a record of 6-5. So far, the Vikings have played 5 games on the road, with a record of 2-3. For the season, Cleveland State has been the underdog in 6 games, sitting with a mark of 2-4. Currently, the oddsmakers have the lines set with the Vikings being +8.5 point underdogs.

Tristan Enaruna comes into today’s game as the Vikings’ leading scorer at 11.82 points per contest. Not only has Enaruna been key to the team’s scoring efforts, but he is Cleveland State’s top rebounder at 6.82 boards per contest. Behind Enaruna, the team has benefited from the strong play of Deshon Parker who is second on the team in scoring at 9.91 points per game. Overall, he has hit 42.9% of his shots and is adding 4.0 boards per game.

Cleveland State comes into today’s matchup vs Loyola Marymount, looking to continue their strong offensive play, as they are averaging 75.6 points per game. Through 11 games, they have hit 47.9% of their field goal attempts. In terms of pace, the Vikings’ have prefered to slow the game down, ranking 420th in possessions per game.

Lions Preview:

Loyola Marymount will take the floor against the Vikings with an overall record of 8-4. Currently, the Lions have been the home team 9 times, sitting with a record of 7-2. The Lions’ are sitting with a betting line that is -8.5 points in their favor. For the season, Loyola Marymount has been favored to win in 4 games, sitting with a mark of 3-1.

Loyola Marymount’s leading scorer this season is Cameron Shelton who is averaging 18.75 points per contest. So far, Shelton has accounted for 27.34% of the team’s scoring. In addition, he is contributing 5.42 rebounds per game and 3.5 assists. Keli Leaupepe is the second leading scorer for the Lions, averaging 14.58 points per game. Between him and Leaupepe, they are accounting for 48.6% of the team’s scoring.

Offensive production has been hard to come by for Loyola Marymount this season, as they are currently ranked 257th in college basketball at 69.3 points per game. A major reason for low scoring totals is the fact that that have played at a below average pace, and have struggled to knock down outside shots. As a team, the Lions’ 3-point shooting percentage sits at just 34.4%, placing them 218th in the NCAA.

Free Spread Prediction: Loyola Marymount Lions -8.5

When analyzing this matchup between the Loyola Marymount Lions and the Cleveland State Vikings, we see grabbing Loyola Marymount to come out on top and cover the spread. The oddsmakers have the Loyola Marymount as the heavy favorite with a point spread sitting at -8.5. Not only only do we like the Loyola Marymount’s historical performance as the favorite, as they are 3-2 vs the spread in their last 5 games when favored to win. But, they are matched up against a team that plays a similar style of basketball. So far, both Loyola Marymount and Cleveland State are near the NCAA average in possessions per game. Before tip-off, go ahead and get your bet down on the Loyola Marymount to win and cover the spread.