Tulsa vs UAB Prediction College Basketball Picks 1/4/25

The Tulsa Golden Hurricane and the UAB Blazers meet Saturday in college basketball action from Bartow Arena. Here’s a Tulsa vs UAB prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Tulsa vs UAB pick. We will examine:

The Tulsa Golden Hurricane’s recent form and player performance

The UAB Blazers’ recent form and player performance

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Tulsa Golden Hurricane

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the UAB Blazers

Recent betting trends in games played between Tulsa vs UAB

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Tulsa vs UAB game

Tulsa Golden Hurricane Betting Preview

The Hurricane took three straight wins to open the season and things were looking pretty good. Tulsa dispatched Northeastern State, AR-Pine Bluff, and Oral Roberts at that time. A lone win over Detroit came in the next eight games, though. Otherwise, it was losses to Missouri State, Little Rock, Loyola Chicago, Georgia State, Oklahoma State, Southern, and UCF. Tulsa managed to get back on track with wins over Mississippi Valley State and Southwestern Christian but then fell to Rice on Wednesday for a 6-8 overall record thus far.

In the Rice game on New Year’s Day, the Hurricane came out of halftime with a 36-32 edge. Tulsa was outscored 38-28 from there, however, resulting in a 70-64 loss. Tops in scoring during the losing effort was Dwon Odom with 18 points, three rebounds, and three assists. Tyshawn Archie added 16 points with three rebounds, three assists, and two steals, while Keaston Wilis also finished in double-figures with 11 points, two rebounds, and one assist in 29 minutes.

UAB Blazers Betting Preview

Over on the Blazers’ side, they came out of the gate this year with a 2-1 run featuring a loss to Vermont in the opener followed by wins over Southern Miss and SE Louisiana. UAB would hit a 1-3 stretch from there with a win over Auburn-Montgomery surrounded by losses to High Point, Longwood, and Illinois State. It’s been a spotty 4-3 run since then for the Blazers. The wins in that time have come versus Louisiana, Prairie View A&M, Alabama A&M, and Alcorn State. Otherwise, it’s been losses to Middle Tennessee, Arkansas State, and North Texas.

In the matchup with the Mean Green on New Year’s Eve, the Blazers came out of the break sporting a dominant 48-31 advantage. UAB fell apart in the second half though, taking a 47-27 deficit from there in a 78-75 loss. Alejandro Vasquez led the team with 15 bench points alongside three rebounds and three assists. Efrem Johnson added 13 points, while Yaxel Lendeborg doubled up on 12 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists in 37 minutes total.

Why the UAB Blazers will win

• UAB has won each of its last five day games against Conference opponents at Bartow Arena.
• Tulsa has lost 12 of its last 15 day games against Conference opponents.

Why the Tulsa Golden Hurricane will win

• UAB has lost three of its last four day games against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Tulsa vs UAB Prediction

I’ll lean toward UAB here but I’m not touching this one. The Blazers had a miserable second half in their latest loss to North Texas, finishing with 41.1 percent shooting from the field and 13 turnovers. UAB did well otherwise, shooting 10-of-18 (55.6 percent) from 3-point range and 19-of-21 (90.5 percent) from the line alongside a 36-26 rebounding advantage. The good news is that UAB has been scoring very well as of late; they’ve posted 75 or more points in five straight, and 69 or more points in 10 straight.

As for Tulsa, they shot just 35.6 percent from the field with a 40-38 rebounding deficit against a pretty good Rice team in their latest loss. It was a rough game that followed a couple of blowout wins versus overmatched squads and also marked the Hurricanes’ fifth loss in the last seven games. During that time Tulsa has been below 67 points in three of those losses, and they’re allowing quite a bit of scoring on the other side. UAB should have plenty of room to put up points here.