Rice Owls vs Tulane Green Wave Prediction, 1/3/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Rice Owls vs Tulane Green Wave

Date: Wednesday, January 3, 2024

Location: Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse in New Orleans, LA

TV: ESPN

The Rice Owls (6-7) are en route to Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse on Wednesday where they will attempt to beat the Tulane Green Wave (9-3).

The Rice Owls took the court against Louisiana and took a loss by a final of 84-67 in their last game. When it comes to fouls, the Owls ended up walking away with 13 while Louisiana finished the game with 20 fouls. They converted 13 of 28 shots from 3-point range. Louisiana ended up going 78.6% at the free throw line by making 11 of their 14 shots. On top of that, Louisiana collected 38 rebounds (11 offensive, 27 defensive), but didn't record a block for the team. Louisiana doled out 17 assists and had 8 steals for the contest. When talking about defense, Rice allowed the other team to shoot 49.2% from the floor on 30 of 61 shooting. They also recorded 12 assists for the contest in addition to forcing the other team into 9 turnovers and getting 5 steals. Regarding pulling down rebounds, they earned a total of 25 with 9 of them being of the offensive variety. At the free throw line, the Owls knocked down 14 of 18 attempts for a rate of 77.8%. Rice ended the game with a 38.2% FG percentage (21 of 55) and converted 11 of their 26 shots from 3-point land.

Keanu Dawes is someone who came through for the matchup. He finished the game at 45.5% from the floor and distributed 1 assist. He played for 33 mins played and also snagged 7 rebounds. He left the arena with 18 points on 5 of 11 shooting.

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Rice comes into this game with a mark of 6-7 this year. They are giving up possession 11.9 times per game and as a group they are committing 14.0 fouls per game. As a unit, Rice is pulling down 37.3 boards per game and has earned 187 assists on the year, which is 147th in the nation in terms of passing. The Owls are connecting on 31.0% from downtown (96 of 310) and 70.1% from the free throw line. They are averaging 73.8 points per game (210th in college hoops) while hitting 44.4% from the field.

When they are on defense, the Owls are able to force 11.2 turnovers per contest and they draw 16.3 fouls. They are relinquishing 34.8% on 3-point attempts and they rank 260th in the country in points per game allowed (73.8). The Owls defense is giving up a shooting percentage of 44.4% (355 of 800) and they surrender 35.8 boards per game as a group. They are currently ranked 238th in college basketball in giving up assists to their opponents with 175 relinquished for the year.

In their last game, the Tulane Green Wave took home the win by a final score of 94-64 against Dillard. The Green Wave pulled down 35 defensive rebounds and 8 offensive rebounds totaling 43 for this game. They also coughed it up 9 times, while getting 9 steals in the game. Dillard had 18 fouls for the contest which got the Green Wave to the free throw line for 26 tries. They were able to make 20 of the free throw attempts for a rate of 76.9%. Pertaining to shots from 3-point land, Tulane buried 14 of 37 attempts (37.8%). When the final whistle was blown, the Green Wave finished 30 for 68 from the field which had them sitting at 44.1%. The Green Wave allowed Dillard to knock down 26 out of their 74 tries from the field which left them with a shooting percentage of 35.1% in this game. They shot 33.3% from downtown by going 10 of 30 and walked away from this one shooting 2 of 4 from the free throw line (50.0%). In regard to rebounds, Tulane permitted Dillard to grab 38 in total (9 on the offensive side).

Jaylen Forbes ended up being a factor for the Green Wave in this matchup. He tallied 22 points in his 29 minutes on the hardwood and had 1 assist in the matchup. He made 8 out of 16 in this contest for a field goal percentage of 50.0%, and had 4 rebounds.

Tulane has a mark of 9-3 so far this year. When it comes to offense, the Green Wave are connecting on 51.1% from the floor, which has them ranked 7th in the nation. Tulane has totaled 1,077 points for the season (89.8 per contest) and they snag 33.1 boards per contest. They are dishing out assists 15.5 times per contest (81st in college basketball) and they are giving up possession 11.6 times per game. The Green Wave are committing 16.3 fouls per game and they go 74.8% from the charity stripe.

The Tulane defense gives up 34.3% on shots from behind the 3-point line (117 of 341) and opponents are connecting on 70.5% of their free throw attempts. They have surrendered 15.8 assists and 38.2 boards every game, which is ranked 336th and 307th in the country. The Green Wave on defense are ranked 343rd in college hoops in points allowed per contest with 79.8. They are forcing their opponents into 16.0 TO's every game and have let teams shoot 43.5% from the floor (228th in D-1).

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Tulane

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