East Carolina Pirates vs. Central Florida Knights Prediction & Game Preview - 2/20/2022

Time: 2 p.m. ET

Venue: Addition Financial Arena, Orlando, FL

Where to watch: ESPN+

DraftKings: UCF -9.5

BetMGM: UCF -9.5

Caesars: UCF -9.5

East Carolina: 13-12 (4-9 AAC)

UCF: 15-9 (7-7 AAC)

The East Carolina Pirates come into Sunday's game really in a hole with any chance of making the NCAA Tournament. The Pirates with the season winding down are 13-12 on the season and have dropped an astounding nine of 13 conference games with not much positivity facing their way before the AAC Tournament begins.

But there might be some sort of optimism with the Pirates having won two of three, both on the road, and recently coming off a 65-57 win against the South Florida Bulls on Friday. Leading scorer Tristen newton once again led the way with 14 points and chipped in with 10 assists for the victory.

Newton leads ECU with 17.1 points per game and was a primary reason why ECU shot 45.5 percent from the floor and why they were able to handle the 7-win Bulls in what might have been too close of a victory for the Pirates.

Whenever we get to March  and the shenanigans that it brings, you always try to find the one player on each team that has the capability of taking over a game/taking over a stretch of games. For the Pirates, it would have to be their starting small forward that has the ability to dish out double-digit assists.

Sometimes that might not be the best plan of attack considering you need your point guard to be doing some sort of distributing. Newton, however, could have a plan of attack, that maybe wasn't there before with this ECU team. Again, are they going to win the NCAA tournament? Probably not. I'd be shocked if any of you went out and placed a bet of even $5 on this group. But if you're looking for some sort of reason to feel good about a potential sleeper, it might be East Carolina if Newton continues this type of play.

And before you ask, no I don't expect Houston or Memphis to slip up in the coming days and lose to East Carolina because why on earth would we expect such things?

The UCF Knights come into this game on a similar trajectory to East Carolina: winners of two of three and slight hope of making a run in the AAC Tournament, but not realy the expected outcome with think with this. Especially in their last game, the Knights might not be available.

UCF is coming off a 70-52 loss at the Houston Cougars on Friday in an otherwise expected result. The Cougars are a nationally ranked team and will be one of those challenging for a Sweet 16 spot, maybe even the Elite Eight. There's no shame in getting humbled by a 21-win team.

The game went about as well as you'd expect. UCF shot 28.3 percent from the floor against one of the better defensive teams in the country and got beat in pretty much every single category. Darius Johnson scored a team-high 12 points, and Dre Fuller also had 12 points off the bench in a game where nobody else came close to assisting in the scoring department. Houston made 17 field goals, while eight of them were 3-pointers.

Do the math and nothing of that sounds close to a win. Yet surprisingly enough, the Knights trailed by only six at halftime. The Cougars took care of business and ran away with this one in the second half. None of that should come as a surprise.

UCF finds itself as a .500 team in conference play and has a 92-85 overtime win at East Carolina under its belt. Revenge is usually best served cold, but it could be piping hot given the fact these two teams are not really that great and we can't expect them to be as competitive going forward.

Really shocked that the line is as high as it is, but not at the same time. I'd venture to guess we're looking at a high-scoring game like the first matchup was. The over is 6-0 in East Carolina's last six following an outright victory, and if it does come to that, I don't doubt that UCF's talent at home will carry the Knights to a win. I look at the landscape of this conference and the team that wins this is going to have a mild bit of momentum heading into March should everything fall into place. UCF is 4-1 against the spread in their last five following an outright loss, and with that spread at almost 10, things have to be looking good for UCF in that regard. Give me the Knights in a comfortable rout. UCF by 16

East Carolina is 18-25 ATS following a conference game the past three seasons.

The over is 10-2 when East Carolina covers the previous game this season.

UCF is 10-3 ATS in their last 13 when playing its third game in a week.

PG: Tremont Robinson-White

SG: R.J. Felton

SF: Tristen Newton

PF: Vance Jackson

C: Ludgy Debaut

PG: Darius Johnson

SG: Darius Perry

SF: Darin Green Jr.

PF: Brandon Mahan

C: Cheikh Mbacke Diong

Points: Tristen Newton -- 17.1

Rebounds: Vance Jackson -- 6.1

Assists: Tristen Newton -- 5.1

Points: Darin Green -- 13.4

Rebounds: Cheikh Mbacke Diong -- 5.9

Assists: Darius Perry  -- 4.4