Tulsa (8-10) vs East Carolina (10-9)
January 21, 2025 at 08:00 PM EST
The Line: Betting Odds: Tulsa +3 — Over/Under:
The East Carolina Pirates and the Tulsa Golden Hurricane meet Tuesday in college basketball action from Reynolds Center. Here’s an East Carolina vs Tulsa prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best East Carolina vs Tulsa pick. We will examine:
The East Carolina Pirates’ recent form and player performance
The Tulsa Golden Hurricane’s recent form and player performance
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the East Carolina Pirates
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Tulsa Golden Hurricane
Recent betting trends in games played between East Carolina and Tulsa
A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the East Carolina vs Tulsa game
East Carolina Pirates Betting Preview
The Pirates got off to quite a nice start in the early days of the season, however, they’ve fallen on hard times since early December. East Carolina went a solid 7-1 over their first eight outings, losing to only Jacksonville State with wins otherwise versus NC Wesleyan, Coastal Carolina, Mount Olive, George Mason, Stetson, UIC, and North Carolina A&T in that stretch. Since then it’s been a tough 3-8 run for the Pirates, however. East Carolina has wins over only Florida International, Temple, and Wichita State since the start of December. The losses otherwise have come versus UNC Wilmington, South Carolina, North Alabama, Gardner-Webb, South Florida, Florida Atlantic, Memphis, and North Texas, giving the Pirates a 10-9 overall record through the first 19 games of their season.
In the Wichita State game over the weekend, the Pirates entered the second half holding on to a 36-33 edge. East Carolina kept the pace the rest of the way on a 39-39 run and took the eventual victory 75-72. Tops in scoring was CJ Walker, who came off the bench to provide 28 points with two rebounds and one assist in 31 minutes of work. Leading the starters was Jordan Riley with 16 points, four rebounds, and five steals in 37 minutes on the floor.
Tulsa Golden Hurricane Betting Preview
Over on the Tulsa side, they’ve had a few decent mini-runs so far this year. That said, the Golden Hurricane have mostly come up empty in the win column otherwise. Tulsa kicked things off with three straight wins over Northeastern State, AR-Pine Bluff, and Oral Roberts, then gave them all back with three losses to Missouri State, Little Rock, and Loyola Chicago. After a win over Detroit, it was four more losses to Georgia State, Oklahoma State, Southern, and UCF in succession. Since then it’s been a 4-3 run with wins over MS Valley State, Southwestern Christian, UTSA, and Charlotte alongside losses to Rice, UAB, and South Florida for a spotty 8-10 overall record this season for the Hurricane.
Matched up against South Florida over the weekend, Tulsa came into the locker room with a 30-25 edge. The Hurricane got outscored 38-26 the rest of the way during a rough second half however and ended up losing 63-56. Leading the team in scoring during the defeat was Justin Amadi with 14 points and seven rebounds. Keaston Willis added 12 points with three steals and two rebounds, while Dwon Odom had 10 assists with nine points in 34 minutes.
Why the Tulsa Golden Hurricane will win
- Tulsa has won four of its last five home games against the American Athletic Conference.
- East Carolina has lost seven of its last nine games at Donald W. Reynolds Center against non-AP-ranked opponents.
- Tulsa has won the first half in each of its last nine games against East Carolina at Donald W. Reynolds Center.
Why the East Carolina Pirates will win
- East Carolina has won each of its last three night games against Tulsa.
- Tulsa has lost seven of its last eight Tuesday night games against the American Athletic Conference.
- East Carolina has won the first half in each of its last six road night games against Conference opponents.
East Carolina vs Tulsa Prediction
I’ll lean toward East Carolina, but you could probably argue this one either way. The Pirates are coming off a much-needed win over Wichita State, shooting 44.3 percent from the field with just nine turnovers. East Carolina had a rough time on the boards though, posting a 47-31 deficit (20-10 offensive). The good news is that the Pirates are scoring fairly well overall lately, with 69 or more points in seven of their last eight games. The bad news is that they’re just 3-5 in those outings. The Pirates are going to need to get it going on the scoreboard early and keep that shooting percentage high in this one, but in the end, I think they can pull it off. Should be an interesting matchup regardless.