UCF vs. Oregon prediction and odds for NIT second round

Oregon is short handed for the NIT it appears, but it didn’t matter in the first round against UC-Irvine, winning 84-58 at home.

Despite not having the services of Will Richardson, N’Faly Dante and Jermaine Couisnard, Oregon rolled to the second round where they will face Central Florida, who beat a similarly short handed Florida team 67-49 on the road on Wednesday.

With Oregon short handed, can they keep up its high level of play against UCF? Or will the Knights take down another high major NIT foe?

Here are the odds for Sunday’s matchup:

UCF vs. Oregon odds, spread and total

UCF vs. Oregon prediction and pick

I think this is where the lack of bodies catches Oregon, if it’s confirmed that all three key players will miss this game. The Knights have a game breaking forward in Taylor Hendricks, who can create in the middle of the Ducks zone defense that struggles to force turnovers.

The Knights downfall this season has been their inability to protect the ball, 282nd in turnover percentage, but Oregon turns over opponents at a lower rate, 292nd on the defensive side of the ball.

On the other side, UCF’s defense is far more aggressive and can give trouble for an Oregon team that may be without its best ball handler in Richardson. The Knights defense is 25th in generating turnovers and that can be the difference against an Oregon offense that had a big boost in the first round, but may be due for some natural regression if they are leaning on their bench yet again.

I’ll take the dog getting over a possession to cover this one.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.