East Carolina Pirates vs UCF Knights Prediction, 3/5/2023 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: East Carolina Pirates vs UCF Knights

Date: Sunday, March 5, 2023

Location: Addition Financial Arena in Orlando, FL

TV: ESPN+

Addition Financial Arena is where the UCF Knights (16-13) will take on the East Carolina Pirates (15-14) on Sunday.

The East Carolina Pirates faced off with Tulane and notched a win by a score of 83-68 in their last contest. East Carolina finished having earned a 38.2% FG percentage (26 of 68) and converted 9 of 29 shots from 3-point land. At the charity stripe, the Pirates converted 22 of their 31 attempts for a percentage of 71.0%. When talking about rebounding, they compiled a total of 42 with 14 of them being offensive. They also doled out 15 assists in the matchup in addition to forcing 14 turnovers and getting 9 steals. Regarding defending, East Carolina allowed their opponent to shoot 39.3% from the field on 22 of 56 shooting. Tulane doled out 11 assists and had 6 steals in this game. In addition, Tulane had 34 rebounds (7 offensive, 27 defensive), but wasn't able to record a block. Tulane ended up going 73.1% at the charity stripe by knocking down 19 of their 26 shots. They also converted 5 of 19 tries from 3-point land. When it comes to fouls, the Pirates finished with 22 and Tulane recorded 21 fouls.

Jaden Walker is a player who played a role in this contest. He finished the game shooting 40.0% from the field and distributed 5 dimes. He played 40 mins and also snagged 11 boards. He ended up with 18 points on 6 of 15 shooting.

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East Carolina comes into this game with a win-loss record of 15-14 so far this season. They currently have an average of 69.5 pts per contest (234th in the country) on 40.7% from the floor. The Pirates are connecting on 31.6% on three-point attempts (225 of 711) and 69.0% from the charity stripe. As a unit, East Carolina is grabbing 37.0 rebounds per game and is sitting with 389 dimes this year, which has them ranked 203rd in college hoops in terms of passing the ball. They are turning it over 13.0 times per game and as a basketball team they are committing 18.1 fouls on a nightly basis.

On the defensive end, the Pirates are forcing 12.0 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 18.0 fouls. They are ranked 106th in the country in giving up assists to their opponents with 355 conceded on the season. The Pirates are allowing a FG percentage of 43.8% (731 of 1,669) and they surrender 34.7 rebounds per contest as a group. They relinquish 33.0% on shots from beyond the perimeter and they rank 194th in the nation in PPG allowed (70.5).

In their last game, the UCF Knights took a defeat with a final score of 57-55 against Temple. In regard to rebounding, UCF permitted Temple to pull down 32 in all (10 on the offensive glass). They finished 26.1% from beyond the perimeter by shooting 6 out of 23 and walked away from this one shooting 15 of 21 at the charity stripe (71.4%). The Knights permitted Temple to bury 18 of their 49 tries from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 36.7% in this contest. In all, the Knights finished shooting 17 for 44 from the floor which gave them a rate of 38.6%. With respect to three-point shots, UCF buried 6 out of their 23 attempts (26.1%). They were able to make 15 of them for a clip of 88.2%. Temple committed 16 fouls in this game which took the Knights to the charity stripe for a total of 17 tries. They also gave up possession of the ball 10 times, while earning 7 steals in this game. The Knights corralled 20 defensive boards and 2 offensive boards for a total of 22 in this contest.

C.J. Kelly pitched in for the Knights for the contest. He recorded 19 points in his 38 minutes of playing time and had 2 dimes in the matchup. He knocked down 6 of 12 for the contest for a field goal percentage of 50.0%, and had 1 rebound.

UCF has a win-loss mark of 16-13 on the campaign. The Knights have committed 16.9 personal fouls per contest while shooting 76.8% from the free throw line. They are earning an assist 14.0 times per contest (120th in the country) and they turn it over 13.3 times per game. UCF has accounted for 2,075 points this year (71.6 per contest) and they average 34.8 boards per contest. When it comes to offensive execution, the Knights are hitting on 42.6% from the field, which is 294th in the nation.

The Knights on defense are ranked 59th in the country in points per game surrendered with 65.6. They are forcing their opponents into 14.8 turnovers per game and have allowed teams to shoot 42.1% from the floor (86th in college hoops). The UCF defense allows 30.8% on shots from beyond the arc (191 of 620) and their opposition makes 72.2% of their free throw shots. They allow 12.2 dimes and 33.4 total boards per game, which has them ranked 137th and 141st in those categories on the defensive end.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take East Carolina

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