UCF (15-14, 6-12 Big 12) vs Oklahoma State (14-15, 6-12 Big 12)
Spread: UCF -6.5
Total: 165.5
The UCF Knights play host Wednesday night to the Oklahoma State Cowboys in a game that features two teams towards the bottom of the Big 12 trying to gain some momentum going into Kansas City next week. The Cowboys are aiming to complete a season sweep of the Knights, having secured a 104-95 win in their February 19th matchup in Stillwater.
Key Stats to Consider
- UCF and Oklahoma State rank 1st and 2nd in the Big 12 in possessions per game with UCF averaging 75.8 and Oklahoma State averaging 73.2
- UCF ranks 5th in the Big 12 in turnovers per possession at 16.1% while Oklahoma State ranks 15th in the Big 12 in that category at 18.5%
- Oklahoma St. is 0-9 on the road in the Big 12 with an average margin of defeat of 16.2 points.
Thoughts
The first matchup between these two teams saw the Cowboys play arguably their best game of the season. They scored a season high 104 points and forced 20 turnovers leading to 26 points off those turnovers, while only turning the ball over 7 times themselves. These numbers should come back down to Earth tonight as the Knights have been one of the better teams in the Big 12 this year at taking care of the ball and will be back in Addition Financial Arena where they’ve won their last 2 home contests. Senior point guard Darius Johnson will be playing his final home game for the Knights after a 4 year career that propelled him towards the top of the all-time school leaderboard in many statistical categories. Johnson should be primed and ready for this matchup that presents a great opportunity for him to have one of his best performances of the season and it’s hard to imagine him and the Knights experiencing the same turnover woes that cost them the first matchup in Stillwater. The Cowboys have been pretty inept on the road all season and I have no reason to believe that this won’t continue tonight in a road game 1,300 miles away from home against a UCF team that’s motivated to send their seniors off on a high note.
The total in this game is set at a staggering 165.5 due to the rapid pace that these two teams play at. With the high volume of scoring opportunities that are expected in this game tonight there should be plenty of opportunities for the Knights to put their foot on the gas and run away with this one.
The Pick: UCF -6.5
