Published Feb 4, 12:43am ET by
Gabriel Kozlow - Betting Preview Analyst and Sports Writer
Last updated Feb 4, 12:43am ET
Updated Feb 4, 12:43am ET
The Fertitta Center in Houston will host two teams having excellent seasons, with Houston and UCF battling it out. The odds have the Cougars as favorites by -14.5 points, but UCF is ready for the challenge.
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| HOUSTON COUGARS | -1350 |
| UCF KNIGHTS | +800 |
Houston enters this game with a 19–2 overall record and a 7–1 Big 12 record, putting them at #8 in the nation. They trail Arizona for the top spot in the conference, so they’ll need to play nearly perfectly the rest of the season if they want that crown. The Cougars are 11–0 at home this season, outscoring their opponents by 17+ points on average.
Kingston Flemings is the offensive star for the Cougars with 17.0 PPG on 51.4% shooting and 5.4 APG. Chris Cenac Jr. leads the team in rebounding with 7.7 RPG, 2.0 of those on the offensive glass.
The UCF Knights are currently 17–4 and coming off a win over a top-15 team, Texas Tech. On top of that, they are climbing the standings in the Big 12 with a three-game winning streak in conference play. They’ll need to be wary of Houston’s 10-game winning streak against UCF.
UCF has a solid squad, especially with Riley Kugel, Themus Fulks, and Jamicheal Stillwell. Each of these players leads the team in key categories and is a big reason why the Knights have been so successful this year.
Houston is a menace at home — they haven’t lost there in 16 straight games, and they also hold a 10-game winning streak against the Knights. As mentioned before, the spread is Houston -14.5. The over/under is 148.5, and the moneyline is -1350 for Houston and +800 for UCF.
Even though we feel UCF is capable of making things interesting, we don’t think they can actually win this game. However, we do like the spread in their favor, so our pick for this matchup is UCF Knights +14.5.
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Pick
UCF Knights +14.5
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