Georgetown Hoyas vs Missouri Tigers NCAA Basketball Predictions

Georgetown Hoyas vs Missouri Tigers
Tuesday, 11/30/10, 9:00 PM EDT, TV: ESPNU
Opening Point Spread: Georgetown -1.5
Current Betting Line: Georgetown -1
Opening Total: 144
Current Total: 144.5
Current Moneyline: Georgetown -120 / Missouri Even

Georgetown Hoyas guard Austin Freeman scored 32 points in his last game and will look to capture a neutral floor win over the Missouri Tigers on Tuesday night

Georgetown heads to Kansas City, Missouri and the Sprint Center to face the Missouri Tigers on a neutral floor. The Hoyas followed a 62-59 win against Old Dominion with five victories over mid-major opponents by an average of 16 points. “We’re a work in progress,” said coach John Thompson III. “There is a lot of room for growth in that locker room.” Tonight’s game is the second all-time meeting between Georgetown and Missouri, with the Hoyas posting a 63-51 win over the Tigers during the 1981-82 season. The team is averaging 73.4 points per game while giving up just 59.8 a contest, which gives them a +13.6 edge in scoring margin this season. Georgetown is 4-1 ATS on the season and the college basketball lines page has them listed as a slight favorite.

The Hoyas have been a sharp-shooting team under Thompson and the 2010-11 season is no different, hitting 49.7 percent of their shots from the field through six games. Georgetown finished fourth in the nation in that category by hitting 49.9 percent of its shots last year. The team is led by senior guard Austin Freeman, who has 90 career starts in 102 games played. He was named the Big East preseason player of the year and scored 32 points in the 87-72 win in the team’s last game over UNC-Asheville. Tonight’s game is the seventh all-time contest against a Big 12 opponent, posting a 4-1 all-time mark in the previous games.

Missouri will be looking to move to 6-0 under head coach Mike Anderson for the second time during his tenure in Columbia, as the Tigers started 9-0 in 2006-07. The Tigers early success this year can be attributed to forcing 22.8 turnovers per game, which is the second-most in the nation. It’s important to note that the program has won its last 12 non-conference matchups, while the Hoyas have won 16 of their last 17 such games. Missouri has been one of the winning programs in the nation the past two-plus seasons, winning 59 games over that stretch, which is the 11th most wins in all of college basketball since 2008-09. The team is 1-2 ATS versus Big East opponents the last three years.

The bench continues to be a strength this season for the Tigers, with the unit averaging 33.6 points per game, highlighted by a season-high 49 points versus LaSalle. Missouri has been excellent in November under Anderson’s direction, posting a 27-4 record in the opening month since the 2006-07 season. The team is often hard to prepare for due to the balance in the program, as nine different players score nine or more points in a game this year and six of those have reached double figures.