Belmont at Drake 11/25/21 - College Basketball Picks & Predictions

By: Lance |

Last Updated: 11/24/2021 at 10:57 PM ET

The Belmont Bruins and Drake Bulldogs will meet up in the ESPN Events Invitational at the HP FIeld House in Orlando. Drake has had a strong start to the season including a 73-70 win over Richmond over their last time out and a 45 point win over South Dakota, they improved to 3-0 on the year. Belmont has sandwiched three wins between an opening season loss and a 83-53 loss to LSU, they’ve struggled to defend higher-level offenses.

Belmont has been a high-powered offense that is scoring 81.2 points per game ranking 59th in the country in scoring offense, they’ve taken a ton of threes and made 10 per game which is the 36th most in the country. Freshman Will Richard has made a strong impact earlier in the year scoring 12.2 points on 56.1% shooting. Belmont will push the tempo and is 46th in adjusted tempo, but has been efficient and is 40th in KenPom adjusted offense.

The Belmont defense has had a ton of struggles this season allowing 77 points per game ranking 307th in the nation in scoring defense. Opponents have taken and made a ton of threes, and are shooting 35.7% from the beyond the arc on 28 attempts. Belmont is 286th in effective field goal percentage and is 129th in KenPom adjusted defense.

Drake has dominated their opening three games and is scoring 86.3 points per game which is 28th in the country in scoring offense. They’ve been incredibly efficient shooting 49.7% from the field and 45.3% from three, which is 38th and 4th in the country. Drake is 48th in KenPom adjusted offense and will crash the boards hard, they’re 22nd in offensive rebounding percentage.

Drake has also been a solid team on the defensive end allowing 60.3 points per game ranking 60th in the country in scoring defense.They’ve had some issues defending the three allowing 5.7 per game and are holding a solid schedule of opponents to 39.5% from the field. Drake really makes opponents work and is 343rd in average possession length and 68th in KenPom adjusted defense.

Drake is one of the deepest and most experienced teams in the country with 82.8% of their scoring from last season. The addition of freshman Tucker DeVries has been huge to pair with the experience and they have already been tested against Richmond. Belmont has had issues on the defensive end and Drake’s efficient offense takes advantage on their way to another solid, resume-building win on a neutral site. Final score prediction, Drake wins and covers ATS 74-69.

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