The UCF Knights and the Tulane Green Wave meet Saturday in college basketball action from Devlin Fieldhouse. UCF is fresh off a Wednesday matchup versus Memphis. In that one the Knights eked out a double-overtime win. As for Tulane, they played SMU in their Wednesday game. The Green Wave ended up winning by nine points. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
UCF went 9-3 over their first 12 games this year, losing to UNC Asheville, Miami-FL and Missouri along the way. The Knights hit a 3-1 run in the next quartet with wins over Wichita State, East Carolina and SMU.
On Wednesday versus Memphis, UCF scored 42 points in the first half and 36 more in the second. The Knights posted a 29-26 edge in two overtime periods to take a 107-104 win. Ithiel Horton led the team on 30 points with three rebounds.
Over on the Tulane side, they were 7-5 after 12 games, taking losses to Nevada, Western Kentucky, Fordham, George Mason and Cincinnati. The Wave would then beat Memphis, Tulsa and Temple in the next trio.
Matched up against SMU on Wednesday, the Green Wave took a 34-33 edge into the break. Tulane hit a 63-55 advantage in the second half and won it 97-88. Jaylen Forbes posted 31 points and seven rebounds to top the team.
PICK: I may take a stab on Tulane here. You could probably make a case either way, though; it should be an interesting matchup. The Wave are coming off a solid win over a struggling SMU team, shooting 56.5 percent from the field but getting out-rebounded 45-27. The Wave have scored 87 or more points in four straight games, winning all of them. As for UCF, they managed a gritty win over Memphis on Wednesday and destroyed SMU 85-53 in their Sunday matchup. That said, if Tulane is playing well I think they can bang out a cover/win in this one.