The No.2-seeded Tulsa Golden Hurricane face the No.3-seeded Murray State Racers in the second round of the NIT tournament at Reynolds Center. Action begins at 9:00 pm ET on Monday, Mar. 23 and can be seen on ESPN.
The Golden Hurricane come into this game hoping to repeat their last performance, edging William & Mary 70-67 in the first round. James Woodard had a solid performance, putting up seven points, four rebounds, and three assists for Tulsa. The Racers, meanwhile, are coming off an 81-66 win against Texas-El Paso in the first round. Cameron Payne led the game in scoring by accounting for 31 points on 12-for-24 shooting.
The odds for Tulsa and Murray State are even, while the Over/Under (O/U) is currently unavailable. The Golden Hurricane have gone 23-10 Straight Up (SU) and 14-15-1 Against The Spread (ATS).
As for their opponent, the Racers have 28-5 SU and 14-14-1 ATS records. Murray State has a good SU record over the last 10 games (9-1), but have a 3-7 record ATS. The Racers rely heavily on three-pointers on offense, ranking 48th in the nation with 238 made (7.4 per game). The Racers are the better of the two teams when it comes to assist-to-turnover ratio, ranking 31st in Division I at 1.33.
This game marks the season’s first head-to-head clash between these two. Their previous game was a Racers victory, bringing the head-to-head record to an even 0-0 SU.
Predictions: SU Winner – MURRAY, ATS Winner – MURRAY
Notes
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Tulsa’s last 5 games.
Tulsa is 18-5 SU in its last 23 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Tulsa’s last 6 games at home.
Tulsa is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games at home.
Murray State beats Tulsa in both possessions per game and points per possession. The Racers average 67.9 possessions and 1.164 points per possession, while the Golden Hurricane average 65.0 possessions with 1.003 points per possession.
The Murray State Racers have one of the best effective field goal percentages this season, ranking 20th in the country with an eFG% of 54.9%. When their opponents record a similar or higher eFG%, the Tulsa Golden Hurricane have a losing 1-4 record.
On average, Tulsa attempts 17.2 three pointers and Murray State attempts 19.3. In games where they have 20 or more three point attempts, the Tulsa Golden Hurricane are even at 4-4 while the Murray State Racers have a tremendous 10-3 record.
Murray State ranks 31st in the nation with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.33. Tulsa is ranked lower at 204th with an A/TO of .97.
Tulsa ranks 169th in offensive rebounds, while Murray State ranks 80th in defensive rebounds.
On average, Tulsa makes 5.8 steals per game. Murray State has an outstanding 14-4 record when it gives up at least 5 steals.
