Houston Cougars vs East Carolina Pirates Prediction, 2/3/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Houston Cougars vs East Carolina Pirates

Date: Wednesday, February 3, 2021

Location: Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum in Greenville, NC

TV: ESPN+

Odds/Point Spread: Houston (-16.5)

Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum is the venue where and the East Carolina Pirates (7-6) will take on the Houston Cougars (15-1) on Wednesday. The spread on this matchup has Houston as 16.5-point favorites. The O/U is set at 128.5.

Houston comes into this matchup with a mark of 15-1 this season. They are averaging 74.1 pts per contest (128th in the nation) on 41.5% from the field. The Cougars are shooting 34.3% on shots from downtown (137 of 399) and 73.4% from the free throw line. As a team, Houston is pulling down 42.3 boards per game and has totaled 195 dimes this season, which is 174th in the country in terms of passing. They turn it over 11.9 times per game and as a unit are committing 19.9 fouls per game. On the defensive end, the Cougars are forcing 15.3 turnovers per contest and they draw 18.9 personal fouls. The Cougars defensively are allowing a shooting percentage of 36.2% (293 of 810) and they surrender 32.4 boards per game as a basketball team. They are currently ranked 58th in the nation in allowing assists to the opposition with 139 conceded on the campaign. They are conceding 24.8% on three-point shots and they rank 10th in Division 1 in PPG allowed (56.0).

The Houston Cougars faced the SMU Mustangs and notched a win by a score of 70-48 in their last game. Houston ended with a 33.9% field goal percentage (19 out of 56) and converted 8 of their 25 3-point attempts. At the free throw line, the Cougars made 24 of their 32 attempts for a percentage of 75.0%. In the matter of pulling down rebounds, they earned 42 with 13 of them being on the offensive end. They also doled out 8 dimes in the game while having 10 steals and 4 blocks. With regard to defense, Houston allowed the other team to go 33.9% from the field on 19 out of 56 shooting. SMU recorded 9 assists and had 4 steals for this contest. Moreover, the Mustangs had 30 rebounds (6 offensive, 24 defensive) and got 4 blocked shots. SMU finished 61.5% at the charity stripe by making 16 of their 26 shots. They converted 2 of 14 tries from long range.

Marcus Sasser is someone who had an impact for this game. He accumulated 19 points on 5 of 15 shooting. He played 34 mins and also snagged 4 boards. Sasser finished shooting 33.3% from the floor and distributed 2 dimes. An additional guy that had an impact in this matchup for the Cougars was Dejon Jarreau. He collected 3 boards and also tallied 5 assists. He finished the game shooting 30.0% from the field in the game by shooting 3-of-10 (9 points). In all, Jarreau played 32 minutes.

East Carolina has a record of 7-6 this year. East Carolina has totaled 881 pts this season (67.8 per contest) and they grab 35.0 rebounds per contest. The Pirates are committing 16.9 personal fouls per contest while shooting 71.4% from the free throw line. In terms of offensive execution, the Pirates are shooting 42.2% from the field, which ranks 272nd in the country. They are dishing out assists 16.2 times per contest (41st in Division 1) and they turn it over 13.3 times per contest. The Pirates on the defensive end are ranked 89th in Division 1 in points allowed per game with 66.4. They are forcing their opponents into 15.1 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 42.0% from the floor (125th in college hoops). The East Carolina defense gives up 32.2% on shots from behind the 3-point line (94 of 292) and their opposition knocks down 69.5% of their foul shots. They have given up 12.0 assists and 35.2 boards every game, which ranks them 119th and 192nd in those categories.

In their last game, the East Carolina Pirates took a loss by a final score of 77-68 when they faced the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. The Pirates earned 15 defensive boards and 10 offensive boards for a total of 25 in this game. They also rejected 3 tries while recording 8 steals for this game. The Golden Hurricane committed 15 fouls for the game which took the Pirates to the charity stripe for a total of 18 shots. They were able to knock down 13 of the free throw attempts for a percentage of 72.2%. In reference to shooting from beyond the arc, East Carolina converted 5 out of 18 tries (27.8%). At the conclusion of this game, the Pirates shot 25 out of 58 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 43.1%. The Pirates permitted the Golden Hurricane to knock down 24 of their 48 tries from the field which had them shooting 50.0% in this matchup. They shot 37.5% from distance by connecting on 6 of 16 and ended up going 23 of 32 at the free throw line (71.9%). In regard to rebounding, East Carolina allowed Tulsa to get 34 overall (8 on the offensive glass).

Jayden Gardner ended up being important for the Pirates for the matchup. He buried 11 of 16 for the contest giving him a field goal percentage of 68.8%, which earned him 26 points. Gardner collected 8 boards in his 37 mins played and had 2 assists for the matchup. Another guy that ended being a contributor for East Carolina was Tremont Robinson-White. He totaled 15 points in his 36 minutes on the hardwood by going 6 of 15 from the floor in this contest. Robinson-White ended the game having shot 40.0% from the floor as well as earning 4 assists and 2 rebounds.

So what is Tonights Parlay prediction?

Parlay's Pundit's Pick: Take East Carolina (+16.5) and under 128.5 points

Get $60 worth of FREE premium member picks. No Obligation. No Salesman. No Credit Card. Fast Sign up with Instant Access Click Here