Courtside Players Club (12/5/23)

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CBB

(2 Picks)

7:00PM EST: Oklahoma -5 (3 Units)

Providence is off to a nice start under first year HC Kim English, but this is their first true road game. They played some neutral site games in the Bahamas, but they have yet to visit another team's house. Providence is a big, physical, tough team. They've imposed their will on teams to get wins, but OU is up for the challenge.

Both teams play exceptional defense, but Oklahoma is the far more efficient offense. Providence ranks 5th in effective opponent field goal % while Oklahoma ranks 9th. Offensively OU ranks 12th in effective FG% and Providence 61st. It's early in the season but the metrics add up. Providence isn't a great shooting team; they just physically dominate teams.

It's a strength-on-strength matchup as Oklahoma is great at attacking the Rim while Providence is great at defending it. The Friars have gotten themselves into Foul Trouble though. When playing Kansas State they had 2 Players foul out and another with 4 fouls. That was a 73-70 loss in Overtime however. Against Georgia both Carter and Gaines wound up with 4 fouls. Location is Key as both games were played in the Bahamas without Big East officials. The Big East has and is a more physical conference. It's part of the reason teams struggle to win when visiting the Big East. The Big 12 officiating Crews aren't as lenient and that's something the Sooners should benefit from.

Oklahoma shoots 78.1% from the charity stripe, 21st in the Nation. Providence meanwhile shoots just 69.1% (232nd). That's going to matter down the stretch as OU attempts to close it out. OU already has a couple strong wins over Iowa and USC and those were both neutral sites. Providence has competed and played in tight games, but this is their first true road game with a brand new HC. Road woes come for everyone, just look at Marquette against Wisconsin on Saturday or Purdue vs Northwestern on Friday. Two of the best teams in College Basketball absolutely stymied on the road.

9:00PM EST: UNC/UCONN Under 151 (3 Units)

Another heavyweight match-up in store for tonight. UCONN is fresh off a 69-65 loss to the Jayhawks at Allen Fieldhouse, and we like this to remain lower scoring as well. Playing with a Home Crowd, Connecticut will dictate the tempo of this game. They do not move fast, as they rank 279th in adjusted tempo. Last year's National Championship team was built to move quicker and even they ranked 204th. North Carolina ranks 99th in AdjT this year.

Bigs Armando Bacot and Donovan Clingan are going to be vital to the outcome of this basketball game. Clingan was tested against Dickinson and while he didn't do too much offensively against him, he slowed him down defensively. All in all, we liked what we saw from Clingan in that game. He also doesn't have to worry about Bacot stepping outside to shoot 3's. He'll be inside to defend the paint better than UCONN was able to against Kansas.

Neither one of these teams turn the ball over very much either. It's going to limit quick easy transition baskets. They're also strong rebounding teams, which is going to prevent easy put-back opportunities. There should be plenty of possessions that end after just 1 shot attempt in this game.

As stated earlier, Big East officials tend to let the players play. As long as they don't get too whistle happy down low Bacot and Clingan should be there inside to prevent easy baskets in the lane. They'll also be there to slow down one another. Both offenses are going to have to work for their points tonight. The Tarheels have given up their fair share of points this year but that's also from their style of play. They're a a decent defensive team, they just push possessions up in every game. That won't happen against a good Huskies team.