Houston Cougars vs SMU Mustangs Prediction, 1/3/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Houston Cougars vs SMU Mustangs

Date: Sunday, January 3, 2021

Location: Moody Coliseum in Dallas, TX

TV: ESPN2

Odds/Point Spread: Houston (-2)

Moody Coliseum is the site where and the SMU Mustangs (6-0) will take on the Houston Cougars (7-1) on Sunday. Houston opens this matchup as 2-point favorites. The over/under has been set at 137.5.

Houston will play this game with a mark of 7-1 this year. The Cougars are hitting 30.5% on shots beyond the perimeter (57 of 187) and 73.1% from the free throw line. They have an average of 73.6 pts per game (158th in D-1) while hitting 41.0% from the field. They are turning it over 12.3 times per game and as a team they are committing 22.1 personal fouls on a nightly basis. As a team, Houston is pulling in 41.0 rebounds per game and has tallied 89 dimes on the year, which is 220th in college hoops in terms of passing the rock. On defense, the Cougars are forcing 17.3 turnovers per contest and they draw 21.5 personal fouls. The Cougars defense is giving up a FG percentage of 37.4% (142 of 380) and they relinquish 32.0 boards per contest as a team. They currently rank 57th in the country in giving up assists with 67 relinquished for the campaign. They give up 23.8% on shots from beyond the perimeter and they rank 6th in college basketball in points per game allowed (55.9).

The Houston Cougars faced off with the Tulsa Golden Hurricane and went home with a loss by a final score of 65-64 in their last contest. Houston ended the contest having earned a 35.7% FG percentage (20 of 56) and made 4 of their 21 3-pointers. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Cougars converted 20 of 31 attempts for a percentage of 64.5%. Concerning rebounding, they earned 31 with 11 of them being of the offensive sort. They also dished out 8 assists for the matchup in addition to having 9 steals and 6 blocked shots. In relation to defense, Houston allowed the other team to go 35.7% from the field on 20 of 56 shooting. Tulsa recorded 7 assists and had 5 steals for the contest. In addition, the Golden Hurricane had 31 rebounds (6 offensive, 25 defensive) and had 6 blocks. Tulsa finished shooting 81.8% from the charity stripe by knocking down 18 of their 22 attempts. They also converted 7 of their 20 tries from downtown.

Quentin Grimes is a guy who was a contributor for the game. He racked up 19 points on 5 of 17 shooting. He played for 37 minutes played and totaled 7 boards. Grimes finished the game shooting 29.4% from the field and dished out 4 dimes. An additional guy that was a factor in the game for the Cougars was Marcus Sasser. He pulled down 2 rebounds and also earned 4 dimes. He went 26.7% from the floor in this contest by shooting 4-of-15 (14 points). Overall, Sasser played for 38 minutes.

SMU has a win-loss mark of 6-0 on the year. The Mustangs commit 15.8 personal fouls per game and they connect on 75.6% from the free throw line. They are earning an assist 18.2 times per game (26th in college basketball) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 13.7 times per game. SMU has scored 505 points so far this year (84.2 per contest) and they pull in 40.8 rebounds per contest. On the offensive side of the court, the Mustangs are hitting on 48.1% from the floor, which ranks them 77th in the nation. The Mustangs are ranked 63rd in college basketball in PPG given up with 64.3. The SMU defense allows 30.9% on shots from 3-point land (46 of 149) and opponents are converting on 68.6% of their foul shots. They give up 13.0 dimes and 33.7 total rebounds per game, which is 180th and 108th in those defensive categories. They are forcing 15.8 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 37.9% from the floor (30th in Division 1).

When they last played, the SMU Mustangs walked away with a victory by a final of 79-71 when they played the Temple Owls. The Mustangs were able to collect 29 defensive boards and 6 offensive rebounds for a total of 35 for this contest. They blocked 7 shots while getting 3 steals in the game. The Owls had 18 fouls in the game which took the Mustangs to the charity stripe for 18 attempts. They were able to convert 9 of the free throw attempts for a rate of 50.0%. Concerning shots from distance, SMU knocked down 8 out of 20 attempts (40.0%). Overall, the Mustangs went 31 out of 60 from the floor which had them sitting at 51.7%. The Mustangs permitted the Owls to bury 25 of 68 attempts from the floor which had them shooting 36.8% for the matchup. They shot 29.0% from behind the 3-point line by going 9 out of 31 and ended up going 12 out of 18 from the charity stripe (66.7%). In reference to rebounding, SMU allowed Temple to snag 37 overall (13 offensive).

Darius McNeill ended up being a factor for the Mustangs for this contest. He buried 6 of 10 for the contest for a field goal rate of 60.0%, which gave him 17 points. McNeill had 4 boards in his 27 mins and had 2 dimes in the matchup. Someone else that was important for SMU was Yor Anei. He racked up 14 points in 22 minutes on the court by going 6 out of 8 shooting for this game. Anei ended up shooting 75.0% from the field and also earning 2 assists and 2 rebounds.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Houston (-2)

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