Tulsa Golden Hurricane vs Cincinnati Bearcats Prediction, 1/2/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Tulsa Golden Hurricane vs Cincinnati Bearcats

Date: Saturday, January 2, 2021

Location: Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati, OH

TV: ESPN+

Odds/Point Spread: Tulsa (+3)

Fifth Third Arena is the venue where and the Cincinnati Bearcats (2-5) will play the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (5-3) on Saturday. Cincinnati opens this game as 3-point favorites. The over/under opens at 132.

Tulsa will enter this contest with a mark of 5-3 on the year. They are averaging 71.5 pts per game (207th in college hoops) while connecting on 46.2% from the floor. The Golden Hurricane are shooting 31.3% on 3-pointers (56 of 179) and 61.5% from the charity stripe. As a unit, Tulsa is pulling down 38.4 boards per game and has earned 118 dimes this year, which ranks 107th in the nation in terms of passing the rock. They are losing possession via turnover 13.9 times per game and as a group are committing 17.0 fouls on a nightly basis. When they are on defense, the Golden Hurricane are forcing 16.0 turnovers per game and they draw 18.3 personal fouls. They are conceding 31.3% on shots from distance and they are 26th in college basketball in points per game allowed (60.6). The Golden Hurricane defense is allowing a shooting percentage of 36.7% (167 of 455) and they surrender 36.0 rebounds per game as a squad. They are 168th in college hoops in allowing assists to the opposition with 91 surrendered on the season.

The Tulsa Golden Hurricane played the Houston Cougars and took home the win by a score of 65-64 in their last game. Tulsa ended the contest with a 41.7% field goal percentage (20 of 48) and converted 7 of 20 3-pointers. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Golden Hurricane converted 18 of 22 tries for a percentage of 81.8%. In reference to grabbing boards, they earned 31 with 6 of them being of the offensive variety. They also doled out 7 assists for the matchup in addition to having 5 steals and 2 rejections. With regard to defense, Tulsa allowed the other team to shoot 41.7% from the floor on 20 out of 48 shooting. Houston dished out 8 dimes and had 9 steals in the game. Moreover, the Cougars had 31 rebounds (11 offensive, 20 defensive) and had 2 rejections. Houston went 64.5% when shooting free throws by burying 20 of their 31 tries. They also made 4 out of their 21 tries from three-point range.

Brandon Rachal is one player who was a contributor in this contest. He was able to score 20 points on 5 out of 9 shooting. He was on the court for 28 minutes and collected 7 rebounds. Rachal finished the contest at 55.6% from the floor and also dished out 2 dimes. An additional guy that came through in the game for the Golden Hurricane was Curtis Haywood. He had 5 rebounds and accounted for 2 assists. He finished the game at 60.0% from the field for the contest by shooting 3-of-5 (9 points). When all was said and done, Haywood was on the hardwood for 21 min.

Cincinnati has a win-loss mark of 2-5 so far this year. On the offensive side of the court, the Bearcats are hitting on 44.0% from the floor, which is ranked 207th in college basketball. Cincinnati has totaled 479 pts for the campaign (68.4 per contest) and they snag 34.9 boards per game. They are assisting teammates 14.9 times per contest (105th in Division 1) and they are giving up possession 15.9 times per game. The Bearcats are committing 21.0 personal fouls every game and they shoot 66.4% from the charity stripe. The Bearcats on the defensive side of the court are 207th in the nation in points given up per game with 71.7. They allow 12.7 dimes and 32.9 total boards per game, which has them ranked 164th and 90th in D-1. The Cincinnati defense surrenders 33.1% on shots from behind the 3-point line (39 of 118) and their opponents are making 75.0% of their free throw attempts. They have forced 13.6 turnovers per game and have let teams shoot 44.0% from the floor (221st in the nation).

In their last game, the Cincinnati Bearcats walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 75-70 against the UCF Knights. The Bearcats were able to collect 28 defensive boards and 10 offensive rebounds totaling 38 in this contest. They also turned away 2 attempts while getting 3 steals in this matchup. The Knights were called for 22 fouls for the matchup which took the Bearcats to the charity stripe for a total of 24 tries. They were able to make 19 of the free throws for a rate of 79.2%. When talking about shots from beyond the arc, Cincinnati converted 5 of their 17 tries (29.4%). When the game finished, the Bearcats ended up going 23 for 52 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 44.2%. The Bearcats allowed the Knights to make 26 of 57 attempts from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 45.6% in this matchup. They finished the game shooting 42.9% from distance by going 9 of 21 and ended up shooting 14 out of 24 at the free throw line (58.3%). When talking about cleaning up the glass, Cincinnati allowed UCF to snag 24 in total (6 on the offensive side).

Keith Williams was important for the Bearcats in this contest. He converted 6 out of 17 in this game for a field goal percentage of 35.3%, which gave him 19 points. Williams collected 10 boards in his 29 minutes and had 2 dimes for the game. An additional guy who came through for Cincinnati was Zach Harvey. He notched 15 points in his 24 minutes on the court via 5 out of 6 from the floor in this matchup. Harvey ended the game having shot 83.3% from the floor and also earning 2 assists and 3 rebounds.

So what is Tonights Parlay prediction?

Parlay's Pundit's Pick: Take Cincinnati (-3) and over 132 points

Get $60 worth of FREE premium member picks. No Obligation. No Salesman. No Credit Card. Fast Sign up with Instant Access Click Here