Check out our free Drake vs Mississippi State pick and preview for this NCAA Basketball game in Lincoln. See who we like to win and cover the spread in this College Basketball matchup.
Drake vs Mississippi State Pick & Preview: Tuesday, December 20th Betting Odds
Bulldogs vs Bulldogs Matchup at a Glance
- Sport: NCAAB
- Teams: Drake Bulldogs at Mississippi State Bulldogs
- Where: Lincoln at Pinnacle Bank Arena
- Date: Tuesday, December 20th
- Betting Odds: Drake +5, DRAKE +186 | MSPST -236 O/U 130.0
Bulldogs Preview:
The Drake Bulldogs head into today’s game in what will be their 12th game of the season, posting a record of 8-3. So far, the Bulldogs have played 5 games on the road, with a record of 2-3. For the season, Drake has been the underdog in 1 game, sitting with a mark of 0-1. Currently, the oddsmakers have the lines set with the Bulldogs being +5 point underdogs.
Drake will be counting on another strong performance from the team’s leading scorer Tucker DeVries who is averaging 18.82 points per game for the Bulldogs. DeVries is also important to the team’s ability to score on the perimeter. So far, he leads the team in 3-point shots made. Also key to the Bulldogs’ offensive gameplan is the play of Sardaar Calhoun who has hit 42.2% of his field goal attempts on his way to averaging 9.73 points per game.
On offense, Drake is scoring a rate similar to the NCAA average at 73.5 points per game. This figure has come despite struggling to knock down shots from outside. Through 11 games, they have only hit 33.8% of their 3-point field goal attempts. For the season, 34.66% of their shots have come from beyond the arc.
Bulldogs Preview:
Heading into today’s matchup vs Drake, the Mississippi State Bulldogs will be taking the floor for the 12th time this season and have an overall record of 11-0. So far this season, Mississippi State has played 10 games at home, sitting with a record of 10-0. At the time of this article, the oddsmakers have the Bulldogs as the -5 point favorites. The Bulldogs have been favored 11 times, going 11-0 straight up.
Tolu Smith comes into today’s game as the Bulldogs’ leading scorer at 16.18 points per contest. Not only has Smith been key to the team’s scoring efforts, but he is Mississippi State’s top rebounder at 8.91 boards per contest. Behind Smith, the team has benefited from the strong play of D.J Jeffries who is second on the team in scoring at 10.18 points per game. Overall, he has hit 37.3% of his shots and is adding 5.36 boards per game.
Offensive production has been hard to come by for Mississippi State this season, as they are currently ranked 209th in college basketball at 70.9 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 Bulldogs’ 3-point shooting percentage sits at just 29.5%, placing them 479th in the NCAA.
Free Spread Prediction: Mississippi State Bulldogs -5
Heading into this matchup, our NCAA betting model has identified this game as a profitable opportunity and recommends taking the Mississippi State Bulldogs to pick up the win and cover the spread as -5 point betting favorites. Although Mississippi State as a team is just 127th in overall shooting percentage, we see their offense putting together a strong performance against the Bulldogs’ defense. At -5 we see there being plenty of value in grabbing the Bulldogs to come out on top and cover.
