Canisius at Quinnipiac 2/12/21 - College Basketball Picks & Predictions

The Canisius Golden Griffins will be back in action for the first time since January 2nd when they travel on the road to the People’s United Center to take on the Quinnipiac Bobcats. Quinnipiac is coming off a series split on the road at Fairfield, winning the first by 15 but dropping 77-70 in the latter and dropping to 5-7 (3-5 conference). 

Canisius has struggled on the offensive end in their limited action averaging 66.8 points per game ranking 288th in the country in scoring offense. The Golden Griffins come in shooting a dismal 39.2% from the field, 330th in the country, and 29.5% from three, 315th in the country. Having not seen any game action in nearly six weeks, they’ll almost no doubt come out rusty.

Only two players come in scoring double-figures and Canisius lacks a true scorer, senior guard Majesty Brandon is the closest thing, he’s come off the bench to average 12.5 points per game. Junior forward Malek Green is leading the team in rebounding with 7 per game and is second in scoring with 10.7 per contest.

Quinnipiac comes in 282nd in scoring offense averaging 67.1 points per game whilst shooting 41.1% from the field. It wasn’t been any easier going from three, where the Bobcats are shooting 32.4% from beyond the arc. All of this despite being 74th in adjusted tempo, they’re 273rd in effective field-goal percentage and are 325th in KenPom adjusted offense. 

The emergence of freshman guard Tymu Chenery has been a nice-boost, he’s averaging 10.7 points on 41.% shooting in his first 12 games at the next level. Senior guard Jacob Rigoni is leading the way with 12.3 points, as well as pulling down a team-high 6.3 rebounds per game. Sophomore center Seth Pinkney is averaging 9.1 points and is shooting an incredible 84.1% from the field. 

Quinnipiac has been a much better defensive team, they’re allowing 67.8 points per game ranking 117th in the country in scoring defense. Opponents are shooting just 37.9% from the field and 28.2% from three, ranking 5th and 13th respectively. The Bobcats are 3rd in effective field-goal percentage and 165th in KenPom adjusted defense.

Canisius struggles haven’t been limited to the offensive end, they’re giving up 71.2 points per game ranking 206th in the country in scoring defense. They’ve been able to limit the three, with opponents shooting 31.4% from beyond the arc but their interior defense is one of the worst in the country. Opponents have shot 55.4% from inside the arc, 328th in defensive two-point percentage.