Who’s Playing
Bellarmine Knights @ Wyoming Cowboys
Current Records: Bellarmine 3-8, Wyoming 5-5
How To Watch
What to Know
The Bellarmine Knights and the Wyoming Cowboys will compete for holiday cheer at 8:30 p.m. ET on Thursday at Arena-Auditorium. The Knights are no doubt hoping to put an end to a nine-game streak of away losses dating back to last season.
Bellarmine’s offense and defense might be a bit winded after their high-scoring matchup with Ball State on Saturday. Bellarmine took an 86-82 hit to the loss column at the hands of Ball State.
Billy Smith put forth a good effort for the losing side as he went 6 for 8 from beyond the arc en route to 33 points plus five rebounds. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 22 points per game. The team also got some help courtesy of Dylan Branson, who scored 18 points along with six rebounds and two steals.
Even though they lost, Bellarmine was working as a unit and finished the game with 21 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Ball State only posted 13.
Meanwhile, Wyoming’s recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Saturday after their fourth straight loss. They wound up on the wrong side of a painful 68-49 walloping at the hands of BYU. The Cowboys were surely aware of their disadvantage in the point spread, but the foreknowledge did nothing to prevent the result.
The losing side was boosted by Obi Agbim, who went 8 for 12 en route to 21 points plus two steals.
Bellarmine’s defeat ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 3-8. As for Wyoming, their loss dropped their record down to 5-5.
Keep an eye on the arc in Thursday’s contest: Bellarmine has been dynamite from deep this season, having drained 37.5% of their threes per game. It’s a different story for Wyoming, though, as they’ve only made 31.5% of their threes this season. Given Bellarmine’s sizable advantage in that area, Wyoming will need to find a way to close that gap.
Odds
Wyoming is a big 14.5-point favorite against Bellarmine, according to the latest college basketball odds.
The oddsmakers had a good feel for the line for this one, as the game opened with the Cowboys as a 15.5-point favorite.
The over/under is 142.5 points.
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