UCF Knights vs West Virginia Mountaineers Prediction, 2/20/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: UCF Knights vs West Virginia Mountaineers

Date: Tuesday, February 20, 2024

Location: WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, WV

TV: ESPN+

WVU Coliseum is the location where the West Virginia Mountaineers (8-17) will try to defeat the UCF Knights (13-11) on Tuesday.

The UCF Knights took the court against Cincinnati and took a loss by a score of 76-74 in their last contest. When talking about personal fouls, the Knights ended up with 17 while Cincinnati recorded 15 personal fouls. They converted 7 of their 26 attempts from beyond the arc. Cincinnati finished the game at 61.9% from the free throw line by making 13 of 21 tries. In addition, Cincinnati had 40 rebounds (16 offensive, 24 defensive), but didn't notch a rejection. Cincinnati recorded 11 dimes and had 6 steals in this game. In relation to defense, UCF let their opponent shoot 41.8% from the field on 28 out of 67 shooting. They also doled out 14 assists in this contest while forcing the opposition into 10 turnovers and having 8 steals. Pertaining to rebounding, they earned 30 with 7 of them being on the offensive end. From the charity stripe, the Knights made 14 of their 18 tries for a percentage of 77.8%. UCF finished the contest having earned a 47.5% field goal percentage (28 of 59) and knocked down 4 of their 12 three-point shots.

Darius Johnson is one player who was important for this game. He ended up shooting 54.5% from the field and also earned 3 assists. He saw the court for 24 minutes and also snagged 1 rebound. He walked away with 20 points on 6 out of 11 shooting.

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UCF will enter this matchup with a record of 13-11 on the season. They are giving up possession 12.5 times per contest and as a squad they commit 17.6 fouls on a nightly basis. As a team, UCF is pulling in 38.1 rebounds per contest and has totaled 293 dimes on the year, which has them ranked 312th in college hoops in terms of passing the rock. The Knights are shooting 31.9% on shots from downtown (167 of 524) and 70.2% from the free throw line. They average 72.1 pts per game (237th in the nation) while going 42.0% from the floor.

When they are on defense, the Knights are able to force 14.7 turnovers per game while drawing 17.8 personal fouls. They are ranked 100th in college basketball in giving up assists with 306 relinquished for the campaign. The Knights defensively are giving up a shooting percentage of 40.4% (532 of 1,316) and they relinquish 34.9 boards per game as a group. They are giving up 32.9% on shots from beyond the arc while they are 45th in the nation in opponents points per game (66.5).

In their last game, the West Virginia Mountaineers took a loss by a final score of 94-81 when they faced Baylor. The Mountaineers corralled 17 defensive rebounds and 8 offensive rebounds totaling 25 in this matchup. They also turned the ball over 13 times, while getting 6 steals in the game. Baylor had 23 personal fouls in this matchup which took the Mountaineers to the free throw line for 27 attempts. They were able to make 19 of the free throw attempts for a rate of 70.4%. With respect to shots from beyond the arc, West Virginia made 8 out of their 19 attempts (42.1%). When the final whistle blew, the Mountaineers ended up shooting 27 out of 51 from the field which gave them a percentage of 52.9%. The Mountaineers permitted Baylor to make 30 of 56 tries from the floor which gave them a percentage of 53.6% for the matchup. They finished shooting 37.5% from 3-point land by going 12 out of 32 and ended up shooting 22 of 30 at the free throw line (73.3%). With respect to rebounding, West Virginia allowed Baylor to snag 27 in all (9 offensive).

Raequan Battle was important for the Mountaineers in the game. He buried 8 out of 16 for the matchup for a field goal percentage of 50.0%, and had 4 rebounds. He scored 25 points in his 30 minutes on the court, but wasn't able to earn an assist.

West Virginia has a win-loss mark of 8-17 so far this year. The Mountaineers are responsible for committing 14.9 fouls per contest and they hit 71.9% from the free throw line. They are assisting teammates 12.6 times per game (240th in Division 1) and they are turning it over 12.4 times per contest. West Virginia has scored 1,711 pts on the season (68.4 per contest) and they average 34.3 rebounds per contest. As an offensive team, the Mountaineers are hitting on 41.7% from the floor, which has them ranked 317th in college basketball.

The Mountaineers are ranked 270th in college basketball in PPG given up with 74.8. They are able to force 10.4 turnovers per game and have let teams shoot 44.0% from the field (210th in college basketball). The West Virginia defense gives up 34.1% on shots from 3-point land (217 of 636) and opponents are making 73.4% of their shots from the charity stripe. They have surrendered 15.0 dimes and 36.0 total rebounds per game, which is ranked 328th and 255th in Division 1.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take West Virginia

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