Tulsa Golden Hurricane vs Houston Cougars Prediction, 1/20/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Tulsa Golden Hurricane vs Houston Cougars

Date: Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Location: Fertitta Center in Houston, TX

TV: ESPN+

Odds/Point Spread: Tulsa (+12)

Fertitta Center is the venue where and the Houston Cougars (11-1) will play the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (8-4) on Wednesday. Tulsa opens this game as 12-point underdogs. The O/U has been set at 122.5.

Tulsa will enter this matchup with a mark of 8-4 on the year. They average 67.8 points per game (266th in the country) while going 45.1% from the field. The Golden Hurricane are hitting 28.8% on shots from downtown (75 of 260) and 64.3% from the free throw line. As a unit, Tulsa is grabbing 36.2 rebounds per game and has totaled 171 assists so far this year, which has them ranked 124th in the nation in terms of passing the rock. They turn it over 13.3 times per contest and as a team are committing 16.6 fouls on a nightly basis. Defensively, the Golden Hurricane are forcing 15.3 turnovers per game and they draw 17.1 personal fouls. They currently rank 139th in college basketball in giving up assists to their opponents with 135 surrendered this season. The Golden Hurricane defense is allowing an opponent shooting percentage of 37.4% (251 of 672) and they relinquish 36.3 boards per contest as a squad. They give up 30.4% on shots from distance and they are 16th in the country in PPG allowed (60.9).

The Tulsa Golden Hurricane stepped onto the hardwood against the Memphis Tigers and notched a win by a score of 58-57 in their last game. Tulsa ended having earned a 44.4% field goal percentage (20 of 45) and knocked down 3 of their 16 three-point shots. From the free throw line, the Golden Hurricane made 15 of 26 tries for a percentage of 57.7%. When talking about grabbing rebounds, they compiled a total of 21 with 6 of them being of the offensive variety. They also doled out 7 assists in the matchup while getting 6 steals and 2 blocks. Regarding defense, Tulsa let their opponent shoot 44.4% from the floor on 20 of 45 shooting. Memphis distributed 9 assists and had 8 steals in this matchup. Additionally, the Tigers grabbed 34 boards (11 offensive, 23 defensive) and had 2 rejections. Memphis ended up going 60.0% when shooting free throws by making 9 of their 15 tries. They converted 4 of their 15 attempts from 3-point range.

Elijah Joiner is a guy who played a role in this game. He notched 14 points on 5 out of 9 shooting. He saw the court for 34 mins played and grabbed 5 rebounds. Joiner finished the contest at 55.6% from the floor and also dished out 2 assists. An additional guy that came through in this game for the Golden Hurricane was Brandon Rachal. He collected 3 rebounds and also tallied 2 assists. He finished the game shooting 40.0% from the floor in this matchup by going 4-of-10 (12 points). When the game finished, Rachal saw the court for 30 minutes.

Houston has a record of 11-1 so far this year. Houston has tallied 879 pts on the year (73.3 per game) and they grab 41.8 rebounds per contest. The Cougars are committing 20.6 fouls per contest and they hit 73.2% from the charity stripe. As an offense, the Cougars are hitting on 41.0% from the floor, which is 303rd in college hoops. They are assisting teammates 11.4 times per contest (293rd in college basketball) and they turn it over 11.9 times per contest. The Cougars on defense are ranked 2nd in the nation in points given up per game with 56.5. They are forcing their opponents into 16.1 TO's per game and have let teams shoot 37.1% from the floor (4th in D-1). The Houston defense surrenders 25.6% on 3-point shots (55 of 215) and opponents are knocking down 65.6% of their shots from the free throw line. They give up 8.3 dimes and 32.6 total boards per game, which ranks 3rd and 81st in those categories on the defensive end.

The last time they took the court, the Houston Cougars went home victorious with a score of 75-58 when they played the UCF Knights. The Cougars pulled down 17 defensive boards and 15 offensive boards for a total of 32 in the matchup. They stuffed 2 tries while recording 9 steals for this game. The Knights had 17 personal fouls for this contest which got the Cougars to the free throw line for a total of 16 shots. They were able to make 11 of those for a rate of 68.8%. In terms of shooting from beyond the arc, Houston knocked down 8 of 25 attempts (32.0%). When this game wrapped up, the Cougars ended up going 28 for 66 from the floor which gave them a rate of 42.4%. The Cougars allowed the Knights to bury 21 out of 48 tries from the field which gave them a rate of 43.8% for the matchup. They went 21.1% from distance by connecting on 4 of 19 and finished the contest at 12 of 19 from the free throw line (63.2%). In reference to rebounding, Houston allowed UCF to get 32 in total (11 offensive).

Quentin Grimes was important for the Cougars for the contest. He converted 7 out of 18 for this contest for a rate of 38.9%, which gave him 18 points. Grimes totaled 3 rebounds in his 28 minutes and had 2 assists in this game. Someone else that ended being a contributor for Houston was Justin Gorham. He accumulated 15 points in 31 minutes played by going 5 out of 8 shooting in the matchup. Gorham finished going 62.5% from the field as well as contributing 2 assists and 9 rebounds.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Tulsa (+12)

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