The Jackson State Tigers and the Tulsa Golden Hurricane meet Thursday in college basketball action from Reynolds Center. Jackson State is fresh off a Tuesday matchup versus LMU. The Tigers went on to fall in blowout fashion, falling to 0-4 so far. As for Tulsa, they’re 2-0 on the young season after a 14-point win over Incarnate Word in their last game. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Jackson State Tigers
The Tigers have four games in the books already, but it’s been a tough road so far. Jackson State started out with a 94-77 loss to Memphis, then fell 87-61 to San Diego in game two. The Tigers faced off against Cal Baptist in an 80-66 loss last Friday despite shooting a reasonable 40.4 percent from the field and 45.5 percent from 3-point range alongside 31 rebounds.
On Tuesday versus LMU, the Tigers dropped another game. Jackson State trailed 40-24 by the break and didn’t end up getting closer in an 88-66 blowout result. Ken Evans had a solid line with 33 points, five rebounds and one assist in 34 minutes. Jordan O’Neal also hit double-figures with 10 points and three assists.
Tulsa Golden Hurricane
Over on the Tulsa side, they kicked off their season with a matchup versus Central Arkansas. The Hurricane took the win in that one 70-53, shooting 40 percent along the way. Tulsa was great on the boards in the opener victory with a 51-31 rebounding advantage, however they shot just 70 percent (14-of-20) from the line and had 18 turnovers.
Game two versus Incarnate Word was another positive outcome for Tulsa. The Hurricane started out slow with a 34-31 edge at the break but went on to take the victory 85-71. Leading the charge was Cobe Williams on 27 points and six assists. Isaiah Barnes also had a nice outing on a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’m going to lean toward the Hurricane. Tulsa has a couple of solid efforts in the books thus far, but they’ve still got a few things to clean up. In their last outing versus Incarnate Word, the Hurricane shot a modest 40.7 percent from the field with a better 38.5 effort from 3-point range alongside a 49-47 rebounding advantage. Tulsa got demolished on the offensive glass by a cold-shooting Cardinals team (28.6 percent) however, losing the rebounding battle 21-11 on that end. Still, considering how permissive Jackson State has been to opposing offenses I think Tulsa will be fine on a cover here.
AUTHOR: Andrew Jett
