Sean Barnard details his pick and prediction for the Tulane Green Wave at UAB Blazers college basketball matchup.
Following up a loaded Saturday of college hoops, there is some intriguing action on the Sunday slate. Tipping off at 2:00 p.m. ET, the Tulane Green Wave are facing off with the UAB Blazers in an American Conference battle.
These teams faced each other once already this season, with UAB emerging victorious with an 82-69 win. This matchup took place just over a month ago, and UAB’s 45-27 rebounding advantage proved to be the difference in the game.Â
Looking at the odds for this matchup, UAB enters as a 5.5-point favorite with -278 moneyline odds on DraftKings Sportsbook. Tulane holds +225 odds of winning outright, and the game total is set at 152.5 points.
Tulane at UAB prediction, preview
Tulane holds a 14-10 record on the season, and has gone 5-6 in American Conference play. They are coming off a victory over Temple in their most recent matchup, but have dropped six of their last eight games. On the season, the Green Wave are 10-13 against the spread in qualifying games, and the game total has gone 9-13-1 to the over/under.
Ron Hunter’s squad is averaging 73.4 points per game, which ranks 254th in the country. Tulane also ranks 251st in offensive rating, 295th in team field goal percentage, 286th in three-point percentage, and 347th in rebounds per game. Defensively, opponents are scoring 74.4 points per game against the Green Wave, which ranks 200th among the 365 D1 teams. They also rank 226th in defensive rating, 179th in opponents’ field goal percentage, and 200th in opponents’ three-point percentage.
Rowan Brumbaugh headlines the production, scoring 19.0 points per game, along with 5.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.8 steals per game. Curtis Williams adds 12.6 points and 4.3 rebounds, while Asher Woods pitches in 12.5 points and 3.2 boards. Tyler Ringgold is the lone other player to average in double figures with 10.0 points and 4.4 rebounds, while Scotty Middleton, KJ Greene, and JoJo Moore play key roles in the rotation.
The UAB Blazers enter with a 16-9 record on the season, and have gone 7-5 in conference play. They are coming off back-to-back wins over Rice and Tulsa, and have won four of their last five games, starting with the first matchup against Tulane. On the season, UAB has gone 12-12 against the spread, and the game total has remained under in 14 of the 24 qualifying games.
The Blazers are averaging 80.8 points per game, which is the 86th-best rate among D1 teams. Andy Kennedy’s quad also ranks 152nd in defensive rating, 251st in field goal percentage, 356th in three-point percentage, and pulls in the 15th-most rebounds per game. Defensively, UAB gives up 74.6 points per game, which ranks 209th in the country. They also rank 80th in defensive rating, 108th in opponents’ field goal percentage, and 131st in opponents’ three-point percentage.
Chance Westry leads the team in scoring with 14.9 points, 4.8 assists, and 3.8 rebounds per game. Jacob Meyer is not far behind, adding 13.4 points and 3.9 rebounds. Daniel Rivera and KyeRon Lindsay each also add over 11 points per game, and both add 6.8 rebounds per contest. Ahmad Robinson leads the team with 4.0 three-point attempts per game and posts overall averages of 9.8 points, 2.9 assists, and 2.4 rebounds. Evan Chatman, Salim London, and Dayjuan Anderson also play notable roles in the rotation.
Tulane at UAB pick, best bet
UAB produced an 82-69 victory in the first matchup between these two teams, and I do not foresee this type of result changing. The biggest discrepancy between these two teams is the rebounding battle. UAB ranks 15th in the country in rebounds per game and pulls in the 19th-most offensive boards. In contrast, Tulane ranks 347th in rebounds per game, 347th in opponents’ rebound allowed, and 343rd in offensive rebounds conceded.
This was put on full display in the first matchup, in which the Blazers produced a 45-27 rebounding advantage. They pulled in 15 offensive rebounds and generated 44 points in the paint. No player on the Tulane roster tallied more than five rebounds, while four members of UAB eclipsed this total. Expect this to be a factor again tonight and for UAB to have success generating additional offensive opportunities.
In addition, this is a Tulane team that is slipping in the wrong direction of late. They have lost six of their last eight matchups and are 3-5 against the spread in these games. The Green Wave is also 4-7 against the spread as an underdog this season.
UAB is far from a perfect basketball team, but its biggest strength aligning with Tulane’s biggest weakness is too significant of a factor to ignore. Expect the Blazers to play physically throughout and create a pathway to generating more offensive opportunities. Chance Westry is capable of getting red-hot and pushing the scoring to a level that Tulane has no chance of matching. Expect him to be eager to brush off the 3-for-8 shooting performance in the first matchup between these two teams and play in attack mode. Tulane does not have the caliber of talent to push this UAB team, and the rebounding issues will be too much to overcome. Count on UAB to produce the victory and cover the 5.5-point spread in this Sunday matchup.