Houston Cougars vs Tulane Green Wave Prediction, 1/28/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Houston Cougars vs Tulane Green Wave

Date: Thursday, January 28, 2021

Location: Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse in New Orleans, LA

TV: ESPN2

Odds/Point Spread: Houston (-17)

Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse is the site where and the Tulane Green Wave (6-4) will take on the Houston Cougars (13-1) on Thursday. Tulane opens this contest as 17-point underdogs. The total is set at 126.5.

Houston will take the court with a record of 13-1 so far this season. They currently have an average of 73.8 points per game (135th in D-1) while connecting on 41.6% from the field. The Cougars are connecting on 33.9% on shots beyond the perimeter (116 of 342) and 73.2% from the charity stripe. As a unit, Houston is grabbing 42.1 boards per game and has 169 dimes on the year, which is 191st in college hoops in terms of passing. They lose possession by turning the ball over 12.2 times per game and as a team are committing 20.1 personal fouls on a nightly basis. When they are on defense, the Cougars are forcing their opponents into 15.9 turnovers per game while drawing 19.2 fouls. They are conceding 26.1% on 3-pointers and they are 1st in the country in PPG from their opponents (56.3). The Cougars are giving up and opponent field goal percentage of 36.9% (258 of 700) and they relinquish 31.9 rebounds per game as a basketball team. They rank 51st in college hoops in giving up assists with 121 surrendered on the year.

The Houston Cougars played the Temple Owls and notched a win by a score of 68-51 in their last game. Houston wrapped up the game with a 47.3% FG percentage (26 out of 55) and converted 9 out of their 20 shots from downtown. From the free throw line, the Cougars made 7 of 8 attempts for a percentage of 87.5%. Regarding rebounding, they earned a total of 34 with 7 of them being on the offensive end. They also distributed 16 assists for the contest in addition to having 6 steals and 4 blocked shots. When it comes to the defense, Houston allowed the other team to shoot 47.3% from the field on 26 of 55 shooting. Temple totaled 14 dimes and had 3 steals in the matchup. Moreover, the Owls grabbed 31 rebounds (8 offensive, 23 defensive) and got 4 blocks. Temple ended up going 55.6% from the free throw line by knocking down 10 of their 18 tries. They converted 5 of 20 shots from 3-point range.

Quentin Grimes is someone who was a contributor in this matchup. He had 15 points on 6 of 13 shooting. He was on the court for 37 minutes played and also totaled 9 rebounds. Grimes finished 46.2% from the floor and also totaled 3 dimes. Another guy that was a major contributor in this matchup for the Cougars was Marcus Sasser. He grabbed 2 rebounds and also accounted for 3 assists. He finished 66.7% from the field for the game by going 6-of-9 (15 points). When this game wrapped up, Sasser saw the court for 32 minutes.

Tulane has a win-loss record of 6-4 for the campaign. The Green Wave are responsible for committing 16.5 fouls per game and they hit 77.0% from the charity stripe. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 11.7 times per game (281st in D-1) and they are giving up possession 11.3 times per game. Tulane has earned 635 points on the campaign (63.5 per game) and they snag 33.0 boards per contest. On the offensive side of the ball, the Green Wave are shooting 37.3% from the field, which has them ranked 348th in college hoops. The Green Wave on defense are ranked 24th in Division 1 in PPG given up with 62.2. The Tulane defense gives up 34.9% on three-point shots (76 of 218) and their opponents are knocking down 65.9% of their shots from the free throw line. They have relinquished 13.9 dimes and 38.6 rebounds on a nightly basis, which is 237th and 306th in college hoops. They have forced 16.0 TO's per game and have let teams shoot 39.9% from the field (45th in college basketball).

The last time they took the court, the Tulane Green Wave walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 65-57 against the Temple Owls. The Green Wave collected 22 defensive rebounds and 3 offensive rebounds totaling 25 in this game. They stuffed 3 tries while recording 6 steals in this game. The Owls committed 15 fouls for this game which took the Green Wave to the free throw line for 12 shots. They were able to convert 10 of the free throw attempts for a percentage of 83.3%. In regard to shots from downtown, Tulane buried 7 out of 25 tries (28.0%). When this game wrapped up, the Green Wave ended up going 20 out of 63 from the field which gave them a percentage of 31.7%. The Green Wave allowed the Owls to make 22 out of 53 attempts from the field which left them with a rate of 41.5% in this game. They finished shooting 34.8% from distance by hitting 8 out of 23 and finished the contest at 13 of 23 from the charity stripe (56.5%). When discussing attacking the glass, Tulane permitted Temple to pull down 46 in total (8 offensive).

Jaylen Forbes ended up being important for the Green Wave in the matchup. He converted 5 out of 15 for the game for a field goal percentage of 33.3%, which had him sitting at 14 points. Forbes totaled 4 rebounds in his 37 mins and added 2 assists for the game. One more player who was a determining factor for Tulane was Sion James. He totaled 13 points in 34 minutes on the court by going 4 of 8 shooting for this game. James ended up shooting 50.0% from the floor and also earning 4 dimes and 5 total rebounds.

Who will win tonight's college basketball game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Houston (-17)

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