Houston Cougars vs Baylor Bears Prediction, 4/3/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Houston Cougars vs Baylor Bears

Date: Saturday, April 3, 2021

Location: Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, IN

TV: CBS

Odds/Point Spread: Houston (+5)

Lucas Oil Stadium is the site where and the Baylor Bears (26-2) will play the Houston Cougars (28-3) on Saturday in the Final Four. The line on this contest has Baylor as 5-point favorites. The O/U opens at 136.

Houston will play this game with a record of 28-3 this year. They cough up possession 10.6 times per contest and as a unit they commit 18.2 personal fouls every game. As a unit, Houston is pulling in 40.9 boards per game and has tallied 436 dimes for the season, which is 27th in Division 1 in terms of passing the ball. The Cougars are connecting on 35.4% on shots beyond the perimeter (285 of 804) and 73.2% from the charity stripe. They currently have an average of 76.6 points per contest (56th in the nation) on 43.7% from the field. Defensively, the Cougars have forced 14.3 turnovers per game and they draw 17.5 personal fouls. They currently rank 172nd in D-1 in giving up assists with 310 surrendered this season. The Cougars are giving up a FG percentage of 37.3% (592 of 1,587) and they relinquish 31.5 rebounds per contest as a basketball team. They surrender 28.3% on shots from beyond the perimeter and they are 2nd in college basketball in PPG allowed (57.6).

The Houston Cougars faced the Oregon State Beavers and walked away with a win by a score of 67-61 in the Elite 8. Houston walked away from the contest having earned a 32.3% field goal percentage (20 of 62) and made 11 of their 32 shots from downtown. At the free throw line, the Cougars buried 16 of 24 attempts for a percentage of 66.7%. When it comes to getting rebounds, they compiled 38 with 18 of them being offensive. They also distributed 17 assists for the contest while creating 9 turnovers and getting 6 steals. With respect to defense, Houston allowed 46.8% from the floor on 22 of 47 shooting. Oregon State distributed 14 assists and had 4 steals in this contest. In addition, Oregon State grabbed 27 boards (7 offensive, 20 defensive) and got 1 block. Oregon State ended up going 55.0% when shooting free throws by knocking down 11 of 20 tries. They made 6 of their 16 tries from beyond the perimeter.

Marcus Sasser is someone who was a contributor for the matchup. He ended up finishing with 20 points on 5 out of 19 shooting. He was on the court for 34 minutes and also grabbed 4 rebounds. Sasser walked away from this one shooting 26.3% from the field and distributed 2 assists. Someone else that was a major factor in this matchup for the Cougars was Quentin Grimes. He grabbed 2 rebounds in his 36 minutes on the court. He finished 33.3% from the floor for the game by connecting on 5-of-15 (18 points). When the final whistle blew, Grimes earned 4 assists.

Baylor has a record of 26-2 for the year. On the offensive side of the court, the Bears are shooting 48.6% from the floor, which is ranked 27th in the country. Baylor has accounted for 2,323 points on the year (83.0 per contest) and they grab 36.0 boards per game. They are earning an assist 16.6 times per game (15th in college basketball) and they turn the ball over 11.7 times per game. The Bears are committing 17.0 fouls per contest and they hit 70.1% from the charity stripe. The Bears on the defensive side of the court are 51st in college basketball in points per game surrendered with 65.5. They are able to force 17.3 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 43.2% from the field (170th in college hoops). The Baylor defense concedes 33.0% on 3-point shots (174 of 527) and opponents are converting on 69.4% of their shots from the charity stripe. They surrender 12.2 dimes and 32.2 boards per contest, which is 114th and 55th in those categories.

When they last stepped on the court, the Baylor Bears got the victory with a final of 81-72 against the Arkansas Razorbacks in the Elite 8. The Bears were able to snag 16 defensive rebounds and 10 offensive boards totaling 26 for the game. They also turned it over 8 times, while getting 9 steals in this matchup. The Razorbacks had 18 fouls in this game which got the Bears to the charity stripe for 17 attempts. They were able to knock down 13 of the free throw attempts for a percentage of 76.5%. In terms of shots from downtown, Baylor made 8 out of their 15 tries (53.3%). Overall, the Bears shot 30 for 62 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 48.4%. The Bears allowed the Razorbacks to make 26 of their 54 attempts from the floor which had them shooting 48.1% for the matchup. They finished 27.3% from three-point range by shooting 3 out of 11 and ended up shooting 17 out of 23 from the free throw line (73.9%). In the matter of cleaning up the glass, Baylor permitted Arkansas to snag 31 overall (10 on the offensive glass).

MaCio Teague pitched in for the Bears for this contest. He made 8 of 18 for this contest for a field goal percentage of 44.4%, and had 5 rebounds. Teague scored 22 points in his 37 mins on the hardwood, but wrapped up this contest with no dimes. One more player that ended being a contributor for Baylor was Jared Butler. He ended up walking away with 5 dimes in 33 mins played, and he knocked down 4 out of 11 from the floor. Butler ended the game having shot 36.4% from the field while also notching 14 points and 3 boards.

Who will win tonight's college basketball game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Houston (+5)

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