UCF Knights vs East Carolina Pirates Prediction, 1/18/2022 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: UCF Knights vs East Carolina Pirates

Date: Tuesday, January 18, 2022

Location: Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum in Greenville, NC

TV: ESPN+

The East Carolina Pirates (11-5) will compete against the UCF Knights (10-5) at Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum on Tuesday.

The UCF Knights stepped onto the hardwood against South Florida and took a loss by a score of 75-51 in their last contest. UCF ended the contest with a 33.3% field goal percentage (19 of 57) and made 2 of 20 three-point shots. From the free throw line, the Knights made 11 of their 14 attempts for a percentage of 78.6%. In terms of grabbing rebounds, they earned a total of 20 with 3 of them being offensive. They also distributed 9 assists in this matchup in addition to forcing the other team into 19 turnovers and earning 5 steals. When talking about defending, UCF allowed the other team to shoot 41.9% from the field on 26 out of 62 shooting. South Florida distributed 17 dimes and had 9 steals for the contest. In addition, South Florida had 45 rebounds (17 offensive, 28 defensive), but finished the game with no rejections. South Florida shot 68.2% from the charity stripe by knocking down 15 of 22 shots. They buried 8 of 24 shots from distance. When talking about fouls, the Knights ended up finishing with 17 and South Florida recorded 15 fouls.

C.J. Walker is one player who was a factor in this matchup. He finished 60.0% from the floor but had no assists when the game ended. He played for 25 minutes played and snagged 4 boards. He finished with 9 points on 3 out of 5 shooting.

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UCF comes into this one with a win-loss mark of 10-5 this year. They are losing possession via turnover 13.4 times per game and as a group they commit 15.5 fouls per game. As a unit, UCF is pulling in 34.2 boards per game and has accounted for 211 dimes for the year, which ranks 186th in D-1 in terms of passing the ball. The Knights are hitting 34.2% on three-point attempts (115 of 336) and 76.7% from the free throw line. They average 71.2 pts per contest (202nd in D-1) while hitting 44.6% from the floor.

On the defensive end of the court, the Knights have forced 15.3 turnovers per contest and they draw 16.5 personal fouls. They rank 162nd in college basketball in allowing assists to their opponents with 193 conceded on the season. The Knights defensively are giving up an opponent FG percentage of 41.2% (348 of 844) and they concede 33.9 rebounds per contest as a team. They are giving up 29.5% on 3-pointers while they are 99th in college hoops in points per game allowed (65.6).

For their last game, the East Carolina Pirates got the win with a final of 72-71 against Memphis. The Pirates were able to collect 20 defensive boards and 7 offensive boards totaling 27 in this game. They also turned it over 14 times, while earning 10 steals in the game. Memphis earned 22 personal fouls for this game which took the Pirates to the free throw line for a total of 21 attempts. They were able to convert 16 of the free throw tries for a rate of 76.2%. With respect to shots from 3-point land, East Carolina converted 10 out of their 25 tries (40.0%). When the game finished, the Pirates finished the game shooting 23 out of 57 from the field which gave them a percentage of 40.4%. The Pirates allowed Memphis to convert 30 of 60 tries from the floor which left them with a shooting percentage of 50.0% for the matchup. They wrapped up this game 53.8% from distance by shooting 7 out of 13 and finished the game at 4 out of 11 from the free throw line (36.4%). In regard to rebounds, East Carolina permitted Memphis to collect 34 in total (10 on the offensive glass).

Vance Jackson ended up being a factor for the Pirates in this contest. He converted 5 out of 11 for this contest giving him a rate of 45.5%, and had 7 rebounds. He accumulated 17 points in his 33 minutes on the court and had 3 dimes in the game.

East Carolina has a win-loss mark of 11-5 on the season. As an offense, the Pirates are shooting 43.6% from the field, which ranks them 217th in the country. East Carolina has totaled 1,177 points this season (73.6 per contest) and they collect 35.6 rebounds per game. They are assisting teammates 16.4 times per game (31st in D-1) and they are turning it over 12.9 times per game. The Pirates have committed 15.1 personal fouls every game and they shoot 75.0% from the charity stripe.

The East Carolina defense gives up 33.8% on shots from beyond the arc (130 of 385) and opponents are connecting on 72.3% of their free throw attempts. They have conceded 15.6 assists and 34.7 rebounds on a nightly basis, which has them ranked 336th and 184th in college basketball. The Pirates on defense are ranked 230th in D-1 in points allowed per contest with 70.6. They are able to force 13.2 turnovers on a nightly basis and have let teams shoot 43.1% from the floor (210th in college basketball).

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take UCF

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