American Athletic Conference foes will collide when the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (10-6) play the Connecticut Huskies (11-4) at Donald Reynolds Center. Action begins at 7:00 pm ET on Thursday, Jan. 14 and can be seen on ES2 and ES3.
The Golden Hurricane enter this game hoping for similar success after topping Tulane 81-67 on Sunday. James Woodard played a pivotal role with 21 points, four rebounds, and two blocks. The Huskies, meanwhile, are coming off an 81-78 win against Memphis on Saturday. Sterling Gibbs was the game’s top scorer, registering 26 points on 7-for-11 shooting.
Connecticut is a slim one-point favorite over Tulsa. The Over/Under (O/U) is sitting at 140 points for this matchup. The Golden Hurricane have gone 10-6 Straight Up (SU) and 7-7-1 Against The Spread (ATS). Not making mistakes with the ball is a staple of the Tulsa offense, which averages just 11.3 turnovers per game.
Over on the other bench, the Huskies have records of 5-5-1 ATS and 11-4 SU. The Huskies convert their shots at a high percentage, ranking 27th in the country at .486. The Connecticut defense has been a problem for competitors, allowing only .383 shooting from the field to its opponents.
The conference foes meet for what will be their first head-to-head battle of the season. Connecticut won the last game in the matchup, bumping its SU record to 2-1. Furthermore, Connecticut holds the advantage ATS with a record of 2-1.
Predictions: SU Winner – Tulsa, ATS Winner – Tulsa, O/U – Over
Notes
Tulsa is 2-3-1 ATS in its last 6 games.
Tulsa is 17-7 SU in its last 24 games at home.
Connecticut has a winning 2-1 record against teams in its conference, while Tulsa is even against its rivals at 2-2.
The Connecticut Huskies have a defensive rating of 95.2 (ranked 46th), while the Tulsa Golden Hurricane have an offensive rating of 107.3 (ranked 142nd).
The Tulsa Golden Hurricane average 69.0 possessions per game and 1.073 points per possession, while the Connecticut Huskies earn fewer possessions (68.9) but more points per possession (1.140).
Tulsa has an average effective field goal percentage of 51.0%. Connecticut is a losing 1-2 when opponents have a similar or higher effective field goal percentage.
On average, Tulsa attempts 20.0 three pointers and Connecticut attempts 19.0. Both teams have winning records when they have 20 or more three point attempts. The Tulsa Golden Hurricane sit at 7-4 and the Connecticut Huskies are 5-2.
The Connecticut Huskies average 5.9 blocks per game, the 10th-ranked team in the country. The Tulsa Golden Hurricane rank a lowly 241st in blocking with just 2.9 per game.
On average, Tulsa makes 7.2 steals per game. Connecticut has a winning 2-1 record when it gives up at least 7 steals.
