UCF Knights vs Houston Cougars Prediction, 2/17/2022 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: UCF Knights vs Houston Cougars

Date: Thursday, February 17, 2022

Location: Fertitta Center in Houston, TX

TV: ESPN2

The UCF Knights (15-8) are headed to Fertitta Center on Thursday where they will try to beat the Houston Cougars (20-4).

The UCF Knights faced off with Tulsa and took home the win by a score of 76-67 in their last contest. Regarding fouls, the Knights finished with 17 and Tulsa finished the game with 18 fouls. They buried 6 of 19 attempts from beyond the arc. Tulsa ended up going 81.0% at the charity stripe by burying 17 of 21 attempts. In addition, Tulsa pulled down 25 rebounds (6 offensive, 19 defensive), but didn't notch a block. Tulsa totaled 9 dimes and had 8 steals for the matchup. In terms of defense, UCF allowed their opponent to shoot 42.3% from the field on 22 of 52 shooting. They also doled out 18 assists in this game as well as forcing 18 turnovers and earning 10 steals. In the matter of hauling in boards, they collected 28 with 7 of them being of the offensive sort. From the charity stripe, the Knights made 8 of their 14 shots for a rate of 57.1%. UCF walked away from the contest having earned a 50.0% field goal percentage (29 of 58) and converted 10 out of their 23 shots from beyond the arc.

Brandon Mahan is a guy who was a major contributor for the contest. He finished the game at 75.0% from the floor and totaled 4 assists. He played for 39 minutes played and grabbed 5 rebounds. He notched 17 points on 6 of 8 shooting.

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UCF steps onto the court with a record of 15-8 so far this year. They are losing possession via turnover 13.9 times per game and as a group they are committing 15.9 personal fouls on a nightly basis. As a team, UCF is pulling down 35.2 boards per game and has accounted for 325 dimes for the year, which has them ranked 182nd in the nation in terms of passing. The Knights are shooting 35.0% on shots from distance (200 of 571) and 72.5% from the charity stripe. They have an average of 70.9 pts per game (186th in the country) while hitting 43.3% from the floor.

On defense, the Knights are able to force 15.0 turnovers every game while drawing 16.7 fouls. They concede 30.6% on shots from beyond the perimeter and they rank 136th in D-1 in points per game allowed (67.5). The Knights defensively are giving up a field goal percentage of 42.2% (547 of 1,295) and they relinquish 34.2 rebounds per contest as a basketball team. They are 162nd in college hoops in allowing assists to their opponents with 300 conceded on the season.

When they last played, the Houston Cougars took a loss by a score of 69-59 when they faced Memphis. Regarding rebounds, Houston allowed Memphis to get 26 in all (6 offensive). They finished the game shooting 40.9% from three-point range by connecting on 9 out of 22 and walked away from this one shooting 18 out of 19 from the free throw line (94.7%). The Cougars permitted Memphis to make 21 out of their 45 attempts from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 46.7% for the matchup. When all was said and done, the Cougars went 24 for 52 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 46.2%. In regard to shots from downtown, Houston made 7 out of 23 tries (30.4%). They were able to bury 4 of the free throws for a rate of 44.4%. Memphis earned 14 fouls for this game which got the Cougars to the free throw line for a total of 9 attempts. They also turned it over 18 times, while getting 8 steals in this game. The Cougars were able to snag 17 defensive boards and 9 offensive boards totaling 26 in the game.

Taze Moore ended up being a factor for the Cougars for this contest. He racked up 15 points in his 39 mins of playing time and had 4 dimes in this matchup. He made 7 of 12 for this contest for a field goal percentage of 58.3%, and tallied 8 rebounds.

Houston has a mark of 20-4 for the campaign. The Cougars have committed 17.2 fouls every game and they connect on 65.7% from the charity stripe. Their rate of earning assists is at 16.0 times per contest (30th in the nation) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 11.3 times per contest. Houston has tallied 1,834 points so far this year (76.4 per contest) and they snag 39.0 rebounds per game. On the offensive side of the ball, the Cougars are connecting on 47.1% from the floor, which has them ranked 43rd in the nation.

The Cougars are ranked 5th in college basketball in PPG surrendered with 58.3. They are able to force 15.3 turnovers on a nightly basis and have allowed teams to shoot 36.8% from the floor (1st in the nation). The Houston defense allows 29.4% on 3-point attempts (163 of 555) and their opposition makes 72.7% of their shots from the free throw line. They concede 10.8 dimes and 32.0 boards every game, which ranks them 48th and 61st in college hoops.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Houston

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