Drake vs Valparaiso 12/2/21 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds
Valparaiso Beacons (3-4) vs. Drake Bulldogs (3-3)
December 2, 2021 9:00 pm EDT
The Line: Drake Bulldogs -13 / Valparaiso Beacons +13; Over/Under: +134
(Get latest betting odds)
The Valparaiso Beacons and the Drake Bulldogs meet in college basketball action from the Knapp Center on Thursday night.
The Valparaiso Beacons will be out to add to a 106-69 win over subdivision Trinity Christian last time out. Ben Krikke leads the Beacons with 17 PPG while Sheldon Edwards has 13.3 PPG and Thomas Kithier has 11.9 PPG with a team-high 6.7 RPG and 2.7 APG as well this season. Trevor Anderson has 11.3 PPG with 6 RPG and Kevion Taylor has 10.3 PPG to make up the double-digit offense for the Beacons so far this season. As a team, Valparaiso is averaging 72 PPG on 45.5% shooting from the field, 32.8% from three and 73.2% from the foul line while allowing 69.1 PPG on 41.5% shooting from the field and 35.3% from three this season.
The Drake Bulldogs come into this game on the heels of a 57-54 loss at the hands of North Texas last time out. Tremell Murphy leads Drake in scoring with 13.7 PPG along with 6.3 RPG while Roman Penn and Tucker Devries each have 10.7 PPG and 3+ RPG with Penn dishing out a team-high 3.8 APG as well this season to cap off the trio of double-digit scorers for Drake so far this season. ShanQuan Hemphill also has 9.2 PPG this season for the Bulldogs. As a team, Drake is averaging 75.5 PPG on 47.1% shooting from the field and 40.2% from three with a 69.2% mark from the foul line while allowing 65.4 PPG on 44.7% shooting from the field and 30.8% from three this season.
Valparaiso is 1-4 ATS in their last 5 road games and 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games following a win by 20 or more points while the under is 15-3 in their last 18 road games. Drake is 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games overall and 0-3-1 ATS in their last 4 games following a loss while the under is 4-1 in their last 5 games following an ATS loss.
I get that the fact that Drake is favored at home, but let’s look at this honestly, the Bulldogs, as good as they are, have been horrible at covering the number going back to the end of last season. Valparaiso has had their butts kicked more often than not lately, but I still think there’s value with the Beacons and the points in this spot. Give me Valpo and the points.
