The New Orleans Privateers and the Tulsa Golden Hurricane will on Thursday when they meet at Reynolds Center. Both teams have talented players and this is a great game to catch on a light schedule night in college basketball.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, ESPN3 LINE: Golden Hurricane -13; O/U: 136.5.
Tulsa looks to avoid a letdown tonight. It could happen after a pair of impressive performances last week. They try to remain unbeaten at home against New Orleans in a non-conference matchup. The Golden Hurricane knocked off Oklahoma State 74-71 on Dec. 5. They then ground out a 47-46 victory over No. 24 Kansas State on Saturday to extend their home-court winning streak to 13 games, dating back to last season.
Guard Martins Igbanu had the go-ahead basket and the Golden Hurricane held Kansas State to 30.5 percent shooting for their signature win of the season.
New Orleans is among the national leaders in turnovers forced per game at 20.1. They definitely won’t be a pushover as the Privateers are coming off a 71-60 victory over South Alabama on Dec. 5.
The Privateers are 4-3 on the season. Guard Ezekiel Charles has scored at least 18 points in three of the last four games. He leads the team at 14 per contest. He has drilled 16-of-30 shots from 3-point range overall.
Forward Scott Plaisance Jr. (10.3 points) scored 13, grabbed six rebounds and added three blocks against South Alabama. Forward Gerrale Gates contributes nine points and a team-best 5.7 rebounds per contest.
Damion Rosser is averaging 14 points over the last three games. Fellow sophomore guard Lamont Berzat dishes out a team-high 3.3 assists per game.
Tulsa is 7-3 on the season. Guard DaQuan Jeffries was named American Athletic Conference Player of the Week on Monday. He scored 20 against Oklahoma State and aided the defensive effort with two blocks and two steals versus Kansas State. Jeffries leads the team in scoring with 12.5 per contest. That is just ahead of Igbanu who is scoring 12.1. Igbanu tops the Golden Hurricane in rebounds at 5.8 a game and shoots 59.7 percent from the field.
Senior guard Sterling Taplin adds 9.8 points per contest and boasts a team-leading 55 of Tulsa’s 120 assists in 10 games. Guard Curran Scott led the way with a season-high 14 points against Kansas State.
F Jeriah Horne is 9-of-19 from 3-point range in the last four games and owns a team-most 14 makes from behind the arc.
PREDICTION: Tulsa 76, New Orleans 63
Next up:
New Orleans home to Williams Baptist Tuesday, December 18
Tulsa at Dayton Sunday, December 16
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