Coppin State vs UConn Odds, Picks, and Predictions (Nov. 13)

• UConn and Coppin State face off Saturday afternoon
• The Huskies will look to start the season 2-0
• Read below for analysis and a pick
  

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#24 Uconn (1-0) hosts Coppin State (0-3) on Saturday at 12:00 pm. The game will be televised on Fox Sports 2.

Coppin State arrives in Storrs in the midst of a grueling road trip. They are one of the only teams in college basketball to have played three games to this point. They are coming off a double-digit loss to Rider, which preceded a 25-point loss to Depaul and a 58-point loss to Loyola Chicago.

Uconn vs Coppin State odds

The Huskies come into the season looking to improve on their efforts of 2020. While UConn lost star James Bouknight, plenty around the program believe the number 24th-ranked squad could be better than they were last season. They enter Saturday off a blow-out win against Central Connecticut.

Huskies Athletes Should Steal the Show

If you believe the Coppin State coaching staff, they want to play faster this season. And it’s reasonable to believe them, because some of the early data has proven that to be true. Coppin State is averaging about 6.5 more possessions in its three games this season than they did last year. So far, they’ve lived up to the billing of “a faster team” and that’s something that should have UConn salivating.

HUSKIES WIN‼️ pic.twitter.com/rKI84LlEoV

— UConn Men's Basketball (@UConnMBB) November 10, 2021

The Huskies were an average transition offense last season. They ranked almost exactly in the middle of college basketball in transition scoring. UConn averaged over a point per possession on these opportunities. They also shot over 50% from the field in these spots. To put it plainly, it left something to be desired. It’s also something they have the ability to improve pretty quickly because, well, it can’t get much worse.

Transition offense was the second-most used offense for UConn. They gained plenty of experience running a high-tempo offense even though they sputtered with it at times. They return most of the players that ran that offense, with the exception of Bouknight, and because of that, I expect them to be better. The Huskies have a large amount of rangy, athletic guards who will be on full display Saturday.

Hurley Wants More Threes

The only complaint that Dan Hurley had after Central Connecticut was that his team didn’t take, nor make, enough threes. The Huskies only attempted 13 three-pointers in game one and that wasn’t enough for their head coach. He noted after the game that he would ideally like 18-20 threes per game. And for this matchup? That might not be the answer.

It's GAMEDAY in Hartford‼️#ThisIsUConn pic.twitter.com/iz2JKETRAW

— UConn Men's Basketball (@UConnMBB) November 13, 2021

As flawed as Coppin State was last season, they were very good defending spot-up sets. The Eagles held opponents to 34% shooting on spot-up situations. That ranked them in the upper third of college basketball defending those sets. When you look at their first three games of the season, it’s a trend that has continued. Though they’ve faced some high-quality opponents, they’ve only allowed 35% on spot-up positions. There are plenty of issues when it comes to defense for Coppin State but defending the three may not be one.

Prediction

This is a very large number for a team to cover that has only played one game. There are few dynamics at play here though.

Huskies up 97-48 with under 2 to go! @jalengaffney Doing it himself here! pic.twitter.com/Pbd7lzafwW

— UConn Men's Basketball (@UConnMBB) November 10, 2021

UConn has the capacity to be one of the best defensive teams in the Country. At every position they have athleticism, speed and guys that have been great defenders throughout their career.

The other side of this is that the Eagles are in the midst of an absolute grind. Being a low-end mid-major college basketball team has many low points. One of those is traveling everywhere early in the season to play “buy games”. Nobody has felt that more than Coppin State which is in the midst of its fourth road game in less than a week. That’s almost hard to imagine.

Because of these two angles, coupled with Coppin State’s ability to defend spot-up sets, I’ll look to play the under here. The total is set at 145.5 on Fanduel as of Saturday morning and I’d play it all the way down to 140.

Prediction: Under 145.5 (-110)