Loyola Marymount vs Cleveland State 12/18/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Cleveland State Vikings and the Loyola Marymount Lions meet in college basketball action from the Gersten Pavilion on Sunday afternoon.

The Cleveland State Vikings will look to rebound from back-to-back losses after a 67-58 loss to Kent State last time out. Tristan Enaruna leads Cleveland State in scoring and rebounding with 11.8 PPG and 6.8 RPG while Deshon Parker has 10 PPG with a team-high 5.3 APG as the only other double-digit scorer for Cleveland State so far this season. Deante Johnson also has 9.2 PPG and 6 RPG while Tae Williams has 9.5 PPG with 5.1 RPG as well this season. As a team, Cleveland State is averaging 67.4 PPG on 44% shooting from the field, 29.5% from three and 66.8% from the foul line this season.

The Loyola Marymount Lions will try to bounce back from a 79-67 loss to Utah State in their last game. Cam Shelton has a team-high 18.8 PPG to lead the Lions in scoring while also posting 5.4 RPG and a team-high 3.5 APG to lead Loyola Marymount in assists as well this season. Keli Leaupepe has 14.6 PPG with 6.9RPG as the leader on the glass for LMU so far this season. Jalin Anderson also has 10.1 PPG as well this season to cap off the scoring in double figures for LMU so far this year. As a team, Loyola Marymount is averaging 76.7 PPG on 45.2% shooting from the field, 36.2% from three and 69.6% from the foul line this season.

Cleveland State is 2-6 ATS in their last 8 games against a team with a winning record and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games against a team with a winning percentage above .600 while the over is 6-1 in their last 7 Sunday games. Loyola Marymount is 9-3 ATS in their last 12 home games and 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games following an ATS loss while the over is 20-6-1 in their last 27 home games.

I get the case to be made for an underdog like Cleveland State, but this is a spot where I lean towards laying the points with LMU. It’s a little steep, but the Lions have shown me that they’re able to go out and take out bigger competition than what they have here. Cleveland State’s a decent team that will contend in the Horizon League this season, but that doesn’t help them here. Give me the Lions laying the points.