Today the Tulsa Golden Hurricane will take on the Connecticut Huskies in the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference Tournament which will take place at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut. The game has a start time of 5:30 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on ESPN 2. Current Vegas betting odds have the Huskies listed as 2 point favorites, while the total is set at 121. 

Analysis: The Tulsa Golden Hurricane had a grasp on the top spot of the AAC standings for much of the year, but back to back season ending losses to Cincinnati and SMU handed the Mustangs the regular season title and dropped Tulsa to the 2nd seed in the AAC tournament. Yesterday in the quarterfinals they got a scare from Houston before finally winning the game 59-51. The Hurricane have now gone 22-9 on the year. Tulsa is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games vs. a team with a winning S.U. record and 10-4 ATS in their last 14 games following a S.U. win. The Golden Hurricane have been a below average offensive team this year, ranking 239th in scoring (65.0 ppg), 243rd in shooting (42.2%), 220th in 3 point shooting (33.3%) and 326th in FT shooting (64.5%). Defensively Tulsa has been very good this year, ranking 30th in points allowed (60.2 ppg), 30th in defensive FG% (39.3%) and 87th in 3 point defense (32.5%).

The Connecticut Huskies are the defending National Champs, but they have not had a good year and they must win the AAC Tournament in order to get back to the Big Dance. They do have an advantage of having this tournament in their home stadium and they moved another step closer to the AAC Title with a last second win over Cincinnati last night. The Huskies have gone 11-4 ATS in their last 15 games following a ATS win and 39-17 ATS in their last 56 neutral site games. The Huskies have not been a good offensive team this year, ranking 235th in scoring (65.0 ppg), 121st in shooting (44.3%), 111th in 3 point shooting (35.8%) and 126th in FT shooting (70.4%). The defense for this team has been very good this year, ranking 33rd in points allowed (60.3 ppg), 38th in defensive FG% (39.6%) and 158th in 3 point defense (33.8%).  

Pick: I will look under here. The Huskies have played great defense this year, especially on their home floor, where they have allowed just 55 ppg in AAC play this year. Tulsa has been a team that has played great defense as well, specially down the stretch, allowing just 56 ppg in their last 7 games in regulation. Both offenses are below average ad this should be a slow paced game. Defenses will rule in this one.  

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