East Carolina Pirates vs Rice Owls Prediction, 2/24/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: East Carolina Pirates vs Rice Owls

Date: Saturday, February 24, 2024

Location: Tudor Fieldhouse in Houston, TX

TV: ESPN

The Rice Owls (10-16) will try to defeat the East Carolina Pirates (14-12) at Tudor Fieldhouse on Saturday.

The East Carolina Pirates took the court against Tulane and walked away with a win by a score of 81-67 in their last contest. When discussing fouls, the Pirates walked away with 14 while Tulane finished the game with 12 fouls. They knocked down 8 of 21 tries from three-point range. Tulane finished the game at 85.0% when shooting free throws by knocking down 17 of 20 tries. In addition, Tulane snagged 22 rebounds (5 offensive, 17 defensive), but couldn't earn a rejection. Tulane totaled 14 dimes and had 6 steals in the game. In terms of the defense, East Carolina allowed the other team to go 46.7% from the floor on 21 of 45 shooting. They also doled out 25 assists for this game in addition to forcing the other team into 15 turnovers and having 12 steals. When talking about grabbing rebounds, they collected a total of 28 with 10 of them being on the offensive end. At the charity stripe, the Pirates made 8 of 13 attempts for a rate of 61.5%. East Carolina walked away from the game with a 51.7% field goal percentage (31 of 60) and converted 11 out of their 22 3-pointers.

RJ Felton is a guy who was a major contributor for the game. He totaled 21 points on 8 out of 21 shooting. He played for 37 mins and also pulled down 6 rebounds. He ended up going 38.1% from the field and also totaled 3 assists.

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East Carolina will enter this matchup with a mark of 14-12 on the campaign. They average 69.8 points per game (284th in the nation) while going 42.2% from the field. The Pirates are connecting on 31.1% from downtown (174 of 560) and 69.9% from the free throw line. As a unit, East Carolina is pulling down 35.3 rebounds per game and has accounted for 314 assists for the season, which is 287th in college basketball in terms of passing the rock. They cough up possession 10.5 times per game and as a group are committing 15.4 fouls on a nightly basis.

When they are on defense, the Pirates have forced 13.3 turnovers per contest while drawing 16.3 fouls. They give up 30.5% on shots from downtown and they are 74th in college hoops in points per game allowed (67.7). The Pirates defensively are allowing a field goal percentage of 43.2% (619 of 1,434) and they concede 34.6 rebounds per contest as a group. They are ranked 104th in college basketball in allowing assists with 314 surrendered so far this season.

When they last stepped on the court, the Rice Owls got the win with a final of 94-71 when they played UAB. The Owls were able to corral 25 defensive rebounds and 5 offensive rebounds totaling 30 in the game. They coughed up the ball 5 times, while recording 4 steals for the game. UAB committed 14 fouls in the game which got the Owls to the charity stripe for a total of 16 attempts. They were able to make 13 of them for a percentage of 81.3%. In relation to three-point shots, Rice knocked down 11 of their 19 attempts (57.9%). In all, the Owls finished shooting 35 for 58 from the floor which gave them a rate of 60.3%. The Owls allowed UAB to bury 22 of 64 attempts from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 34.4% in this matchup. They finished shooting 39.1% from behind the 3-point line by connecting on 9 of 23 and ended up shooting 18 out of 22 at the charity stripe (81.8%). Regarding cleaning the glass, Rice allowed UAB to grab 31 overall (17 offensive).

Mekhi Mason was important for the Owls for this game. He accumulated 19 points in his 32 mins of playing time and tallied 6 dimes in this matchup. He buried 4 out of 8 in this contest for a field goal percentage of 50.0%, and had 6 rebounds.

Rice has a win-loss record of 10-16 on the campaign. In terms of offensive execution, the Owls are connecting on 44.6% from the floor, which is ranked 187th in Division 1. Rice has totaled 1,925 pts for the campaign (74.0 per contest) and they pull in 36.1 boards per game. Their rate of assisting teammates is at 14.7 times per game (92nd in the nation) and they cough up possession 12.1 times per game. The Owls commit 15.2 personal fouls per contest while shooting 69.5% from the charity stripe.

The Rice defense concedes 36.4% on 3-pointers (223 of 612) and their opponents are connecting on 74.4% of their free throw shots. They have relinquished 15.0 assists and 35.7 boards on a nightly basis, ranking them 329th and 240th in the nation. The Owls on defense are ranked 308th in college basketball in PPG given up with 76.5. They are forcing their opponents into 10.7 turnovers on a nightly basis and have let teams shoot 45.1% from the floor (270th in college basketball).

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Rice

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