Oklahoma State Cowboys (12-19) vs. Central Florida Knights (16-14)
March 12, 2024 12:30 pm EDT
The Line: Central Florida Knights -3.5; Over/Under: 137
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The Oklahoma State Cowboys and the UCF Knights meet Tuesday in Big 12 Tournament college basketball action from Sprint Center. Let’s get into our Oklahoma State vs. UCF prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Oklahoma State Cowboys
The Cowboys posted a pretty rough 10-14 record over their first 24 games this year. Oklahoma State would then bag consecutive wins over BYU and Cincinnati. Since then however it’s been losses to Oklahoma, UCF, Texas, Texas Tech and BYU in the last five outings.
In the BYU matchup on Saturday, the Cowboys came out of the break with a 32-29 deficit. Oklahoma State hit a 53-42 run the rest of the way and lost 85-71 in the end. Leading team scorer Javon Small was the only one in double-figures with 34 points and three rebounds.
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UCF Knights
Over on the UCF side, they were 13-8 over their first 21 games. After a four-game losing streak to Texas Tech, BYU, Cincinnati and West Virginia, the Knights beat Texas Tech and Oklahoma State. Two more losses to Iowa State and Houston came before a win over TCU.
Matched up against TCU over the weekend, the Knights were all tied up at 36-36 by halftime. UCF outscored the Frogs 43-41 the rest of the way in a 79-77 victory. Darius Johnson was the lead scorer on the team with 33 points and nine rebounds, while Jaylin Sellers added 14 points.
ANDREW’S FREE OKLAHOMA STATE VS UCF PREDICTION
I’ll lean toward UCF here. The Knights beat a pretty good TCU team in their last outing, notching 49.1 percent from the field with 34 rebounds and 13 assists along the way. The 13 turnovers (for 17 Frogs points) were just about the only blemish. UCF is now 3-2 in their last five games with 75 or more points in all three wins.
These teams saw each other on February 28 in a 77-71 road win for the Knights. Neither team shot all that well (below 42.4 percent) but UCF had a distinct 40-27 advantage on the boards. The Knights were again in turnover trouble though, with 17 for 21 Cowboys points. Provided UCF can get the ball control in check I think they’ll have a good cover shot here.
