The Eastern Kentucky Colonels will travel to Freedom Hall Civic Center to take on the East Tennessee State Buccaneers. Action begins at 7:00 pm ET on Friday, Dec. 18 and can be seen on ES3.
The Buccaneers are hoping to rebound after their 84-64 loss to UNC Asheville on Tuesday. Isaac Banks had a good outing, putting up nine points and seven rebounds for East Tennessee State. The Colonels, meanwhile, are coming off an 80-73 win against Florida Atlantic on Tuesday. Jarelle Reischel led the game in scoring by registering 19 points on 5-for-11 shooting.
East Tennessee State is a slim two-point favorite at home against Eastern Kentucky. According to the oddsmakers, the Over/Under (O/U) is currently 161 points. The Buccaneers come into this game 4-5 Straight Up (SU) and 2-2-1 Against The Spread (ATS). The Buccaneers have no trouble scoring as they rank seventh in the nation in home offense with 95.2 points per game.
As for their opponent, the Colonels have 8-4 SU and 4-2-1 ATS records. Offensively, they average 86.1 points per game, which is good for 15th in the country. The Colonels rely heavily on three-pointers on offense, ranking 17th in the nation with 108 made (9.0 per game). The Colonels are an unselfish team with an average of 17.3 assists per game, ranking 32nd in Division I.
This game marks the season’s first head-to-head clash between these two. Their previous game was a Buccaneers victory, bumping their SU record to 2-1 over Eastern Kentucky. The Buccaneers also lead the matchup ATS with a record of 1-0.
Predictions: SU Winner – EastTn, ATS Winner – EastKy, O/U – Over
Notes
Eastern Kentucky is one of the top-scoring teams in the nation, averaging 86.1 points per game (ranked 15th). East Tennessee State, on the other hand, allows 74.2 points per game (ranked 237th).
East Tennessee State lost its last game by a 20-point margin. In games decided by a margin of 18 points or more, Eastern Kentucky is 2-3. East Tennessee State is also 2-3 in blowouts this season.
With 73.0 possessions and 1.069 points per possession, the East Tennessee State Buccaneers perform worse on both metrics than the Eastern Kentucky Colonels. Eastern Kentucky averages 74.6 possessions and 1.153 points per possession.
The Eastern Kentucky Colonels have one of the best effective field goal percentages this season, ranking 15th in the country with an eFG% of 57.7%. When their opponents record a similar or higher eFG%, the East Tennessee State Buccaneers are winless with a 0-4 record.
On average, East Tennessee State attempts 20.0 three pointers and Eastern Kentucky attempts 21.0. In games where they have 20 or more three point attempts, the East Tennessee State Buccaneers are 3-2 while the Eastern Kentucky Colonels have an exceptional 7-1 record.
Eastern Kentucky ranks 89th in the nation with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.23. East Tennessee State is ranked lower at 242nd with an A/TO of .92.
On average, East Tennessee State makes 7.4 steals per game. Eastern Kentucky has a winning 4-2 record when it gives up at least 7 steals.
