South Florida Bulls (24-7) vs. Central Florida Knights (17-15)
March 19, 2024 9:00 pm EDT
The Line: Central Florida Knights -4.5; Over/Under: +139.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The USF Bulls and the UCF Knights meet Tuesday in the college basketball NIT First Round at the Addition Financial Arena. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s USF vs. UCF Prediction.
USF Team Preview
The USF Bulls come into the NIT on behalf of the AAC with a record of 24-7 this season. Chris Youngblood leads the Bulls in scoring with 15.1 PPG along with 2.1 APG while Selton Miguel has 14.9 PPG with 3.2 RPG and 2.2 APG. Kasean Pryor has 12.8 PPG and a team-high 7.8 RPG to lead the Bulls in rebounding, rounding out the trio of double-digit scorers for USF up to this point in the year and Jayden Reid has a team-high 3.2 APG as well to lead the Bulls in assists. As a team, USF is averaging 75.8 PPG on 44% shooting from the field, 36.6% from three and 73.5% from the foul line this season.
More College Basketball Picks: Kansas State vs Iowa Prediction!
UCF Team Preview
The UCF Knights come into the NIT as part of the Big 12, finishing the year 17-15 overall. Jaylin Sellers leads UCF in scoring with 15.6 PPG and 3.5 RPG while Darius Johnson has 15.2 PPG with a team-high 3.7 APG to lead the Knights in the assist department and to round out the pair of double-digit scorers for UCF so far this season. Ibrahima Diallo also has 5.6 RPG to lead the Knights on the glass. As a team, UCF is averaging 71.5 PPG on 41.9% shooting from the field, 32.1% from three and 70.7% from the foul line this season.
USF vs. UCF Prediction
I’m on USF and the points here. The Bulls are a team I felt was a snub to be left out of the NCAA tournament field, and I think they’ll use this as a spot to show the committee that they got that call wrong. This is a USF team that has taken huge strides in the right direction in year one under Amir Abdur-Rahim, and I just don’t think home court is enough to justify UCF being favored here. Give me the Bulls and the points.
