Who’s Playing

Tulsa Golden Hurricane @ East Carolina Pirates

Current Records: Tulsa 9-4, East Carolina 7-7

How To Watch

• When: Sunday, January 7, 2024 at 3 p.m. ET
• Where: Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum — Greenville, North Carolina
• TV: ESPN University
• Follow: CBS Sports App
• Online Streaming:  Catch select College Basketball matches on Fubo (Try for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)
• Ticket Cost: $10.00

What to Know

Tulsa has enjoyed a five-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. The Tulsa Golden Hurricane and the East Carolina Pirates will face off in an American Athletic battle at 3:00 p.m. ET on Sunday at Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum. Given that the pair suffered a loss in their last game, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this match.

Last Thursday, the Golden Hurricane lost 78-75 to the Tigers on a last-minute jump shot with 4 seconds left in the second quarter. The over/under was set at 153 points, so nice work oddsmakers; you were right on the money.

The losing side was boosted by PJ Haggerty, who scored 27 points along with eight rebounds and three steals. Another player making a difference was Carlous Williams, who scored 16 points along with five rebounds.

Meanwhile, it’s hard to win when you don’t work as a unit and post 15 fewer assists than your opponent, a fact East Carolina found out the hard way on Tuesday. They received a tough blow as they fell 79-64 to the Owls. East Carolina has now taken an ‘L’ in back-to-back games.

Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the most dominant came from Brandon Johnson, who dropped a double-double on 15 points and ten rebounds. He has been hot recently, having posted three or more steals the last three times he’s played. The team also got some help courtesy of Quentin Diboundje, who scored 13 points.

East Carolina struggled to work together and finished the game with only six assists. That’s the fewest assists they’ve managed all season.

The Golden Hurricane’s loss ended a nine-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 9-4. As for the Pirates, they bumped their record down to 7-7 with that loss, which was their fourth straight on the road dating back to last season.

This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Tulsa have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 37.3 rebounds per game. However, it’s not like East Carolina struggles in that department as they’ve been averaging 36.5 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it’ll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.

While East Carolina and Tulsa both let their fans down in their last outings, both still covered. Going forward, East Carolina is the favorite in this one, as the experts expect to see them win by 4.5 points. For those looking to play the spread, careful betting on East Carolina: they have a less-than-stellar 5-8 record against the spread this season.

Odds

East Carolina is a 4.5-point favorite against Tulsa, according to the latest college basketball odds.

The line has drifted a bit towards the Pirates, as the game opened with the Pirates as a 2-point favorite.

The over/under is set at 144 points.

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Series History

Tulsa has won 6 out of their last 10 games against East Carolina.

• Feb 21, 2023 – East Carolina 62 vs. Tulsa 60
• Jan 24, 2023 – East Carolina 76 vs. Tulsa 66
• Feb 26, 2022 – East Carolina 64 vs. Tulsa 59
• Feb 08, 2022 – East Carolina 73 vs. Tulsa 71
• Jan 30, 2021 – Tulsa 77 vs. East Carolina 68
• Feb 12, 2020 – Tulsa 70 vs. East Carolina 56
• Jan 15, 2020 – Tulsa 65 vs. East Carolina 49
• Mar 03, 2019 – Tulsa 91 vs. East Carolina 78
• Feb 17, 2019 – Tulsa 77 vs. East Carolina 73
• Mar 01, 2018 – Tulsa 72 vs. East Carolina 58