Auburn Faces Tulsa in NIT Championship: Game Preview and Betting Insights

Gainbridge Fieldhouse will stage tonight’s NIT Championship, and the game plan is already on the glass. Auburn arrives with superior athleticism and the tournament’s most reliable wrecking ball: offensive rebounding. Tulsa, meanwhile, lives and dies by the outside shot, a dependence that plays directly into Auburn’s hands.

Auburn’s front line has punished every opponent it has outworked on the boards, turning second chances into 1.30 points per possession on scramble plays. Tulsa allows those same scrambles to bleed points, and the Tigers will post up early and often. When the ball kicks out, Kevin Overton has buried 51.5 % of his NIT threes and hit four or more in three of four games; whichever Tulsa guard checks him will give away inches.

Tulsa’s survival formula is perimeter volume. Miles Barnstable has hit three or more triples in three straight contests, Ade Popoola is 9-for-17 from deep, and Keyshawn Hall has multiple makes in three of four. The Golden Hurricane have gone Over the total in 16 of their last 25 games for +6.1 units and a 22 % ROI, and tonight’s pace should keep that trend alive.

Auburn’s Tahaad Pettiford owns a 23.8 % assist rate in the tournament and needs only four dimes to clear his prop; he has reached that line in three of four games. Expect both teams to let fly from deep, but expect Auburn’s rebounding to decide who lifts the trophy.