The Charlotte 49ers and the Tulsa Golden Hurricane meet Friday in college basketball action from HTC Center. The 49ers are 3-0 overall this year and coming off a win over Boise State on Thursday. As for Tulsa, they’re 2-1 on the season. The Hurricane beat Loyola in their Thursday game. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Charlotte began their year with a matchup versus Coppin State. The 49ers didn’t struggle much in that one, taking an 82-59 win. In game two versus Maryland Eastern Shore, the 49ers took another big win, this time 80-47.
On Thursday in their latest outing, Charlotte faced Boise State. The 49ers went into the break up 28-11 and cruised to a 54-42 victory. Charlotte’s Brice Williams managed 12 points, and Aly Khalifa posted 10 points, five rebounds and five assists.
Over on the Tulsa side, they had a tricky matchup versus Oregon State in their opener this year. The Hurricane blew a 44-28 first-half lead and lost 73-70. Tulsa recovered in their Saturday matchup versus Jackson State with an 85-79 victory.
In Thursday’s matchup against Loyola, Tulsa was all knotted up at 30 apiece by halftime. The Hurricane went on to score 55 more points from there in an 85-66 win. Sam Griffin led the team on 20 points, and Brandon Betson added 18 points.
PICK: I’ll probably take a stab on Tulsa here. The Hurricane put up a nice effort versus Loyola in the Thursday game, shooting 48.1 percent from the field, 45.8 percent from 3-point range (11-of-24) and 84.6 percent from the line (22-of-26). Tulsa was also solid on the boards, out-rebounding the Ramblers 33-29.
As for Charlotte, they got off to a great start in the Boise State game but ultimately they were fairly cold from outside (4-of-17) and got out-rebounded 34-33. (8-4 offensive). The 49ers are probably going to want to slow down the pace if they’re going to stay in range of Tulsa.