Rice Owls vs UAB Blazers Prediction, 2/23/2023 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Rice Owls vs UAB Blazers

Date: Thursday, February 23, 2023

Location: Bartow Arena in Birmingham, AL

TV: ESPN+

The UAB Blazers (20-9) are hosting the Rice Owls (17-10) at Bartow Arena on Thursday.

The Rice Owls faced off with Western Kentucky and earned the victory with a final of 83-77 in their last game. Rice finished with a 44.3% field goal percentage (27 of 61) and made 10 of their 27 3-point shots. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Owls converted 19 of 23 attempts for a rate of 82.6%. In reference to getting rebounds, they earned a total of 35 with 5 of them being of the offensive sort. They also recorded 16 assists in this matchup while forcing 10 turnovers and having 6 steals. When talking about defending, Rice allowed their opponent to shoot 43.9% from the field on 29 of 66 shooting. Western Kentucky distributed 15 dimes and had 3 steals in the game. In addition, Western Kentucky grabbed 33 boards (6 offensive, 27 defensive), but couldn't earn a rejection. Western Kentucky shot 90.0% when shooting free throws by making 9 of their 10 tries. They also buried 10 of their 29 tries from 3-point land. With respect to personal fouls, the Owls walked away with 13 and Western Kentucky racked up 20 personal fouls.

Quincy Olivari is someone who was a factor for this contest. He walked away with 34 points on 9 out of 23 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 37 mins and totaled 12 rebounds. He finished shooting 39.1% from the floor and also earned 2 dimes.

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Rice heads into this one with a win-loss mark of 17-10 so far this year. They are averaging 78.9 points per game (30th in the country) while shooting 47.5% from the floor. The Owls are hitting 36.5% on three-point shots (245 of 671) and 73.6% from the free throw line. As a unit, Rice is collecting 36.0 boards per contest and has accounted for 424 assists on the year, which ranks 53rd in D-1 in terms of passing the ball. They cough up possession 13.2 times per game and as a group they commit 15.3 personal fouls per contest.

Defensively, the Owls are forcing 12.3 turnovers per contest and they draw 18.1 personal fouls. They are giving up 34.4% on 3-point attempts while they are 307th in D-1 in PPG from their opponents (74.6). The Owls defense is giving up a shooting percentage of 45.9% (764 of 1,663) and they surrender 33.4 boards per contest as a group. They are currently ranked 172nd in college basketball in allowing assists to the opposition with 351 surrendered so far this year.

For their last game, the UAB Blazers walked away with a victory by a final of 83-78 against UTSA. In reference to cleaning the glass, UAB allowed UTSA to get 36 overall (10 offensive). They went 34.8% from distance by shooting 8 of 23 and finished the game at 16 of 24 from the charity stripe (66.7%). The Blazers permitted UTSA to convert 27 out of 62 attempts from the floor which left them shooting 43.5% in this matchup. When all was said and done, the Blazers went 31 out of 64 from the floor which had them sitting at 48.4%. With respect to three-point attempts, UAB buried 7 of their 16 tries (43.8%). They were able to knock down 14 of them for a percentage of 60.9%. UTSA committed 17 fouls in the game which took the Blazers to the free throw line for a total of 23 tries. They gave up possession of the ball 6 times, while getting 5 steals for this contest. The Blazers were able to pull down 20 defensive boards and 8 offensive boards totaling 28 in this game.

Jordan Walker ended up having an impact for the Blazers in the game. He buried 8 of 19 for this game giving him a field goal percentage of 42.1%, and had 4 rebounds. He racked up 25 points in his 29 minutes on the hardwood and had 4 dimes for this game.

UAB has a mark of 20-9 so far this year. When it comes to executing on offense, the Blazers are hitting on 45.8% from the field, which is ranked 103rd in college basketball. UAB has scored 2,384 pts on the season (82.2 per contest) and they snag 40.8 rebounds per contest. They are dishing out assists 15.2 times per game (52nd in Division 1) and they lose possession via turnover 13.4 times per contest. The Blazers have committed 18.0 fouls every game while shooting 73.5% from the charity stripe.

The UAB defense gives up 32.9% on shots from distance (212 of 644) and opponents are making 71.8% of their shots from the charity stripe. They allow 12.3 dimes and 34.6 boards per contest, which is ranked 145th and 221st in Division 1. The Blazers on defense are ranked 245th in the country in PPG allowed with 71.9. They are able to force 14.7 turnovers on a nightly basis and have allowed teams to shoot 41.9% from the field (78th in D-1).

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Rice

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