Nicholls Colonels vs Tulane Green Wave Prediction, Odds, Best Bets - Week 2

Tulane has played two home games and given up 98 and 87 points, losing one of them. Nicholls already went on the road and held a good UAB team to 70. A favorite that defends like this has to score its way out of trouble every single night.

The Matchup

Nicholls visits Tulane on Tuesday evening at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse in New Orleans, on ESPN+, with Tulane a 7.5-point favorite, a total of 151.5, and the Green Wave priced at -380 on the moneyline against Nicholls at +300.

Tulane is 1-1, and both games were shootouts at home. The Green Wave beat UT Martin 100-98, then lost 87-85 to Jackson State in the same building. They have scored 92.5 points a game this season and allowed 92.5, a team living on the edge every night. Krystian Lewis leads Tulane at 25.0 points a game, KJ Greene leads the Green Wave at 4.0 assists a game, and Tyler Ringgold leads them at 7.0 rebounds a game.

Nicholls is also 1-1, with a split that says more about defense. The Colonels beat North American 110-56 at home, then lost 70-63 at UAB, holding a strong home team to 70 on its own floor. Nicholls has scored 86.5 points a game and allowed 63.0. AJ Dent leads the Colonels at 12.5 points and 6.0 rebounds a game, and Sheridan Sharp leads them at 6.5 assists a game, the kind of pass-first guard who travels well.

Last season Tulane went 18-15, scored 72.4 points a game and allowed 75.5, while Nicholls went 14-19, scored 72.4 and allowed 74.9. On a full season the two programs scored identically and defended almost identically, which makes Tulane's home floor and Lewis's scoring the real separators in this price, rather than any broad gap between the teams.

Key Factors

Tulane's defense is the loudest fact in this game. Allowing 92.5 points a game is partly pace, but losing at home to Jackson State while scoring 85 tells its own story: the Green Wave cannot get stops when a game tightens. A favorite laying 7.5 with that defense is asking its offense to be perfect, because every Nicholls run lands on a team that has shown it will trade baskets instead of ending them.

Sharp gives Nicholls the control Tulane lacks. A guard averaging 6.5 assists a game on a team whose top scorer averages 12.5 is running a shared offense, and shared offenses are harder to rattle on the road. The Colonels already proved the point at UAB, where they kept a good team in the sixties deep into the game. If Nicholls keeps its composure in the New Orleans building, it has the ball movement to find the gaps Tulane keeps leaving.

The counterpoint wears a Tulane jersey. Lewis, at 25.0 points a game, is the most explosive scorer in this matchup, and in a game priced at a total of 151.5, one hot half from him can bury a visiting team that prefers order. Nicholls also scored only 63 at UAB, so if Tulane's pace drags the Colonels into a shootout they did not plan for, the points could run out quickly.

Every pick is published with its line before the game. Odds via consensus sportsbooks at time of writing and move constantly. Must be 21+. If gambling is a problem, call or text 1-800-GAMBLER.