Houston Cougars (18-2) vs. Texas Longhorns (14-6)
January 29, 2024 9:00 pm EDT
The Line: Texas Longhorns +6; Over/Under: 131.5
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The Houston Cougars and the Texas Longhorns meet Monday in college basketball action from Moody Center. Houston is currently 18-2 after a four-game win streak, most recently toppling Kansas State over the weekend. As for Texas, they’re 14-6 so far after a loss to BYU on Saturday. Let’s get into our Houston vs. Texas prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Houston Cougars
The Cougars got off to a great start this year, hitting 14 straight wins to kick things off. Houston would then fall in consecutive games earlier this month versus Iowa State and TCU, but the team bounced back with wins over Texas Tech, UCF, BYU and Kansas State since then.
On Saturday versus Kansas State, the Cougars jumped out to a 41-21 lead by halftime. Houston kept it up with a 33-31 run in the second half and took the victory 74-52. Leading the team in scoring was Jamal Shead with 17 points, three assists and two steals in 29 minutes of work.
Houston Cougars Team Facts
- Houston has won 37 of its last 38 night games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
- Each of Houston’s last nine night games against non-AP-ranked opponents have produced a total of 127 or fewer points.
- Houston has won the first half in 19 of its last 20 games.
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Texas Longhorns
Over on the Texas side, they only lost to UConn and Marquette in their first 13 games. Since then the Longhorns are a shaky 3-4 though, with wins over Cincinnati, Baylor and Oklahoma alongside losses to Texas Tech, West Virginia, UCF and BYU otherwise during that stretch.
Matched up against BYU on Saturday, the Longhorns faced a 44-41 deficit going into the second half. Texas was outscored 40-31 the rest of the way and ended up losing 84-72. Dylan Disu topped the team in the losing effort with his 19 points, seven rebounds and two assists.
Texas Longhorns Team Facts
- Texas has won 18 of its last 20 games at Moody Center.
- Each of Texas’ last 13 games against Top 10 AP-ranked opponents have produced a total of 132+ points.
- Texas has won the first half in 13 of its last 14 games at Moody Center.
ANDREW’S FREE HOUSTON VS TEXAS PREDICTION
I’ll stay with Houston. This should be a pretty interesting matchup regardless, though. The Cougars made short work of a good Kansas State team in their last outing, shooting a tepid 40 percent alongside a 38-28 rebounding edge and 25 points off 18 Wildcats turnovers. Houston has scored 74 or more points in three of the four games during this current win streak.
As for Texas, they’ve been enduring a tough stretch in their schedule with mixed results lately. The Longhorns recently beat Baylor and Oklahoma though, so they can play with pretty much anyone in the country when they’re on point. I like Texas to make a game of this, with Houston eventually pulling out a close cover. It’ll be a fun one.
