College Basketball Odds, Pick for Drexel vs Bryant (Friday, Dec. 22)

In a strange non-conference bout before the holiday season, the Drexel Dragons make the roughly 300-mile journey to Smithfield, Rhode Island, to square off with the Bryant Bulldogs.

For Bryant, it’s the first home game since November 27, and first home game against a Division I opponent in over a month.

For Drexel, it’s a chance to improve its away-from-home record, which sits at just 3-5 on the year. While the Dragons are 3-1 against the spread at home, they’re just 2-4 against the number in true road games.

What will the motivation be for an odd one-off non-conference affair on the brink of league play? Here's college basketball odds and a pick for Drexel vs. Bryant on Friday, Dec. 22.

Drexel has won with defense this season, ranking 37th in Adjusted Defensive Efficiency, per KenPom. The Dragons are about as physical as a mid-major team comes, and scoring inside the arc or rebounding the ball against them is a massive chore.

Head coach Zach Spiker will extend token pressure in the form of three-quarter court trapping zone looks. He’ll also employ morphing matchup zones in the half court to slow opponents down.

Whether in man or zone this season, Drexel has been excellent at keeping the opponent’s ball out of its basket. And transition opportunities against the Dragons have been almost non-existent.

Deploying length at every spot on the floor and having a human eraser inside in 6-foot-10 Amari Williams has led to Drexel’s early-season success on that end.

The other side of the floor hasn’t gone as smoothly, and the Dragons have been forced to “win ugly” due to an offensive attack that's tended to stagnate. An unwillingness and inability to shoot from the outside has limited Drexel’s offense to Williams post-ups and/or sophomore point guard Justin Moore creating off ball screens.

Offensive rebounding has been the best source of scoring, as Williams is among the best offensive rebounders in the country.

Despite Drexel’s inability to shoot and create in the half court, Spiker refuses to play an up-tempo style, a bizarre choice given the athleticism at his disposal. The Dragons play into opponents’ hands by slowing the game down and allowing defenses to keep them at bay.

Drexel has only played in two games this season that went over 70 possessions, and one of those contests was an overtime affair.

Against a super up-tempo squad like Bryant, it'll be interesting to see how the clash of styles plays out.

Bryant wants to go, go, go offensively. The Bulldogs ranks ninth overall in Adjusted Tempo and 24th in average offensive possession length, per KenPom. Like Drexel, Bryant struggles to score in the half court, putting up just 0.838 points per possession this season, good for the 24th-percentile nationally, per Synergy.

Unlike Drexel, the Bulldogs thrive in transition, and use it often. Per Synergy, Bryant ranks 24th nationally in transition possessions, and its 1.195 points per possession in transition is the 44th-best mark in the land.

Will the Bulldogs be able to get out in the open floor against Drexel, a team that excels at stopping transition? That will likely be the biggest key to the game.

Bryant is a poor defensive rebounding team, so the Dragons will be able to send Williams to the glass and drop two or three back on defense to counter any attack.

Defensively, Bryant has actually been quite stout, a far departure from the norm of the program. The Bulldogs rank 93rd nationally in Adjusted Defensive Efficiency, per KenPom, by far the school’s best mark since joining Division I in 2008.

Bryant plays a very switchable lineup chock full of versatile 6-foot-5 and up athletes. Scoring inside the arc against the Bulldogs has been difficult, as they rank 16th in 2PFG% allowed and 11th in block rate.

For a team like Drexel that must score inside the arc, this could pose a major challenge.

Finally, how will home court play into this matchup? Bryant isn’t exactly known for its hostile home environment, but in this dead week of scheduling, it could tip the motivation meter to its side.

Drexel gains nothing from this contest, there's no real penalty for losing and conference play begins for it on January 1.

Both teams seem to have the kryptonite defensively to stop the other's offensive attack. Drexel will find it difficult to score inside (at least on the first attempt), and it won’t be easy for Bryant to score in the open floor. In an “unstoppable force versus immovable object” type of game, predicting the outcome can be challenging.

Perhaps, then, we lean towards the home team, which has high-major talent and is likely ecstatic to be playing a game in its own gym for the first time in ages.

The under could also be worth a look, as efficiency is likely to be extremely low.

Just beware of Bryant’s ability to control pace – only once this season have the Bulldogs played in a game under 70 possessions.

Pick: Bryant +3.5

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