SMU Mustangs vs Houston Cougars Prediction, 1/31/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: SMU Mustangs vs Houston Cougars

Date: Sunday, January 31, 2021

Location: Fertitta Center in Houston, TX

TV: ESPN

Odds/Point Spread: SMU (+9.5)

Fertitta Center is the site where and the Houston Cougars (14-1) will take on the SMU Mustangs (9-3) on Sunday. SMU opens this matchup as 9.5-point dogs. The O/U has been set at 139.5.

SMU heads into this game with a win-loss mark of 9-3 on the campaign. They are averaging 77.5 pts per game (66th in D-1) while going 46.7% from the floor. The Mustangs are connecting on 36.0% on three-point shots (96 of 267) and 75.2% from the free throw line. As a team, SMU is collecting 37.5 boards per contest and has totaled 198 dimes on the season, which is 138th in the nation in terms of passing. They are turning it over 13.1 times per contest and as a unit they commit 16.3 fouls per game. On defense, the Mustangs are forcing their opponents into 14.3 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 17.9 fouls. The Mustangs defensively are giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 40.5% (284 of 701) and they concede 34.3 rebounds per contest as a squad. They are ranked 159th in college hoops in allowing assists to the opposition with 169 surrendered on the year. They concede 35.4% from beyond the arc and they rank 107th in college hoops in PPG allowed (67.5).

The SMU Mustangs faced the Memphis Tigers and went home with a win by a final score of 67-65 in their last game. SMU finished having earned a 41.7% field goal percentage (25 of 60) and converted 5 out of their 21 3-pointers. From the charity stripe, the Mustangs made 12 of their 13 shots for a rate of 92.3%. When it comes to pulling down rebounds, they compiled 27 with 10 of them being offensive. They also doled out 13 assists in the matchup while getting 7 steals and 3 rejections. Regarding defense, SMU allowed the other team to go 41.7% from the field on 25 out of 60 shooting. Memphis doled out 19 dimes and had 8 steals in this contest. Moreover, the Tigers pulled down 27 boards (5 offensive, 22 defensive) and earned 3 rejections. Memphis walked away from this one shooting 66.7% at the charity stripe by knocking down 10 of their 15 attempts. They converted 9 of 20 tries from distance.

Feron Hunt is someone who was a contributor for this game. He accounted for 17 points on 7 out of 9 shooting. He was on the court for 31 minutes played and also collected 5 rebounds. Hunt finished the game shooting 77.8% from the floor but finished the game without a dime. An additional guy that was a determining factor in the game for the Mustangs was Emmanuel Bandoumel. He collected 2 rebounds and had 2 assists. He went 38.5% from the field for the contest by connecting on 5-of-13 (15 points). When the final whistle was blown, Bandoumel saw the court for 34 minutes.

Houston has a mark of 14-1 on the campaign. As an offense, the Cougars are shooting 42.0% from the field, which is 277th in the country. Houston has totaled 1,116 points for the year (74.4 per contest) and they pull in 42.1 rebounds per game. They are getting an assist 12.5 times per contest (237th in the country) and they turn it over 12.1 times per game. The Cougars are responsible for committing 19.9 personal fouls per contest and they connect on 73.2% from the free throw line. The Cougars defensively are ranked 1st in the nation in points given up per game with 56.5. The Houston defense surrenders 25.4% on 3-point shots (71 of 280) and their opponents are connecting on 66.4% of their shots from the free throw line. They have surrendered 8.7 dimes and 32.3 rebounds on a nightly basis, which is ranked 3rd and 63rd in college basketball. They have forced 15.5 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 36.4% from the field (1st in college basketball).

The last time they took the court, the Houston Cougars got the victory with a final of 83-60 when they played the Tulane Green Wave. The Cougars earned 26 defensive rebounds and 14 offensive boards for a total of 40 in the game. They turned away 5 shots while recording 6 steals in this game. The Green Wave were called for 12 fouls in the game which got the Cougars to the free throw line for a total of 11 tries. They were able to bury 8 of them for a percentage of 72.7%. In terms of shots from beyond the arc, Houston made 13 out of 32 attempts (40.6%). Overall, the Cougars shot 31 out of 65 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 47.7%. The Cougars allowed the Green Wave to knock down 20 of 63 attempts from the floor which gave them a rate of 31.7% in this game. They shot 17.4% from 3-point land by shooting 4 of 23 and ended up going 16 of 20 at the free throw line (80.0%). When talking about team rebounding, Houston permitted Tulane to collect 33 in total (14 on the offensive side).

Tramon Mark ended up having an impact for the Cougars in the matchup. He converted 6 out of 12 for the contest giving him a field goal percentage of 50.0%, which gave him 16 points. Mark totaled 5 rebounds in his 32 minutes and accounted for 3 assists in the matchup. One more player that played a role for Houston was Justin Gorham. He totaled 7 points in his 24 minutes played by going 3 out of 10 from the floor in this game. Gorham wrapped this one up going 30.0% from the floor while also collecting 2 assists and 15 rebounds.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take SMU (+9.5)

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