Houston Cougars vs East Carolina Pirates Prediction, 2/25/2023 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Houston Cougars vs East Carolina Pirates

Date: Saturday, February 25, 2023

Location: Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum in Greenville, NC

TV: ESPN+

The East Carolina Pirates (14-13) are welcoming the Houston Cougars (26-2) at Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum on Saturday.

The Houston Cougars faced off with Tulane and walked away with a win by a score of 89-59 in their last game. Houston wrapped up the contest having earned a 47.0% field goal percentage (31 out of 66) and made 10 of their 32 3-pointers. From the charity stripe, the Cougars made 17 of their 22 attempts for a percentage of 77.3%. With regard to grabbing rebounds, they earned 45 with 18 of them being of the offensive sort. They also distributed 22 assists for this game while creating 19 turnovers and earning 16 steals. With respect to defending, Houston allowed the other team to go 38.0% from the field on 19 out of 50 shooting. Tulane totaled 8 assists and had 4 steals for this contest. Additionally, Tulane pulled down 22 boards (6 offensive, 16 defensive), but didn't notch a block. Tulane walked away from this one shooting 66.7% when shooting free throws by converting 14 of 21 shots. They also buried 7 of 22 shots from distance. In reference to fouls, the Cougars ended up with 19 while Tulane accounted for 17 fouls.

J'Wan Roberts is a player who played a role for this game. He accounted for 26 points on 9 of 10 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 25 minutes played and also grabbed 7 boards. He ended up going 90.0% from the floor and also distributed 3 dimes.

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Houston will enter this matchup with a win-loss record of 26-2 for the year. They are averaging 76.1 pts per contest (79th in D-1) while hitting 47.2% from the field. The Cougars are connecting on 35.2% on shots from distance (222 of 631) and 71.4% from the charity stripe. As a unit, Houston is pulling down 38.9 boards per contest and is sitting with 422 assists for the campaign, which is 69th in college basketball in terms of passing the ball. They are turning it over 9.8 times per contest and as a group are committing 16.0 fouls per contest.

When they are on defense, the Cougars are able to force 14.6 turnovers every game and they draw 16.1 fouls. They rank 21st in the nation in allowing assists to their opponents with 277 relinquished on the campaign. The Cougars are giving up a shooting percentage of 35.9% (523 of 1,456) and they relinquish 31.3 rebounds per game as a unit. They are relinquishing 27.2% on 3-point shots and they rank 1st in college hoops in PPG allowed (55.9).

The last time they took the court, the East Carolina Pirates got the victory with a final of 62-60 against Tulsa. The Pirates corralled 26 defensive rebounds and 9 offensive boards totaling 35 in this game. They coughed up the ball 16 times, while recording 5 steals in the game. Tulsa had 19 fouls for this game which took the Pirates to the free throw line for 25 shots. They were able to knock down 18 of the free throws for a clip of 72.0%. In reference to shooting from 3-point land, East Carolina converted 6 of their 27 attempts (22.2%). When the final whistle was blown, the Pirates ended up shooting 19 for 48 from the floor which gave them a rate of 39.6%. The Pirates allowed Tulsa to convert 21 of 52 attempts from the floor which left them shooting 40.4% in this contest. They finished the game shooting 16.7% from 3-point land by shooting 3 of 18 and ended up going 15 of 21 from the free throw line (71.4%). When talking about cleaning the glass, East Carolina allowed Tulsa to grab 29 in total (6 on the offensive glass).

Jaden Walker was important for the Pirates for this contest. He converted 8 of 11 in this matchup for a field goal percentage of 72.7%, and had 5 rebounds. He racked up 24 points in his 40 mins of playing time and had 3 dimes for the game.

East Carolina has a mark of 14-13 this year. The Pirates are committing 18.1 fouls every game and they go 69.3% from the charity stripe. They are assisting teammates 13.4 times per game (163rd in D-1) and they are losing possession via turnover 13.3 times per contest. East Carolina has tallied 1,876 pts for the campaign (69.5 per contest) and they grab 37.0 rebounds per game. On the offensive side of the ball, the Pirates are hitting on 41.1% from the field, which is ranked 335th in D-1.

The Pirates defensively are ranked 195th in D-1 in points per game surrendered with 70.4. They are forcing their opponents into 12.0 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 44.0% from the floor (214th in college basketball). The East Carolina defense allows 33.3% on shots from beyond the perimeter (174 of 523) and their opponents are connecting on 70.2% of their foul shots. They have given up 12.2 dimes and 34.0 total boards per game, ranking them 139th and 183rd in college hoops.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take East Carolina

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