West Virginia Mountaineers vs Texas Longhorns Prediction, 1/1/2022 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: West Virginia Mountaineers vs Texas Longhorns

Date: Saturday, January 1, 2022

Location: Frank Erwin Center in Austin, TX

TV: ESPNU

Frank Erwin Center is the site where the Texas Longhorns (10-2) will play the West Virginia Mountaineers (11-1) on Saturday.

The West Virginia Mountaineers took the court against Youngstown State and walked away with a win by a score of 82-52 in their last game. When talking about personal fouls, the Mountaineers ended up with 15 while Youngstown State racked up 25 personal fouls. They also knocked down 5 of their 27 shots from long range. Youngstown State shot 69.2% at the free throw line by making 9 of their 13 tries. In addition, Youngstown State snagged 35 boards (13 offensive, 22 defensive), but wasn't able to put a block in the stat sheet. Youngstown State earned 10 dimes and had 4 steals in this contest. When talking about defending, West Virginia allowed the other team to shoot 33.3% from the field on 19 out of 57 shooting. They also doled out 14 assists for the matchup in addition to forcing the other team into 19 turnovers and getting 9 steals. In regard to grabbing rebounds, they compiled 29 with 8 of them being on the offensive end. At the charity stripe, the Mountaineers buried 25 of 34 shots for a rate of 73.5%. West Virginia finished the game having earned a 45.5% field goal percentage (25 of 55) and made 7 of 15 shots from beyond the arc.

Sean McNeil is a guy who was a major contributor in this matchup. He shot 88.9% from the field but finished the game without a dime. He was on the court for 29 minutes but did not grab any rebounds. He ended up finishing with 23 points on 8 of 9 shooting.

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West Virginia enters this contest with a win-loss record of 11-1 this year. They turn the ball over 11.8 times per contest and as a basketball team are committing 15.5 personal fouls every game. As a unit, West Virginia is pulling down 33.6 boards per game and has earned 136 assists on the campaign, which ranks 285th in the country in terms of passing the ball. The Mountaineers are shooting 31.5% on three-point shots (69 of 219) and 62.4% from the free throw line. They are averaging 70.4 pts per game (224th in the nation) while going 45.0% from the floor.

On the defensive end of the court, the Mountaineers are forcing their opponents into 18.4 turnovers per contest and they draw 19.3 personal fouls. They are giving up 28.7% on three-point shots and they are ranked 28th in the country in points per game allowed (59.8). The Mountaineers defense is allowing and opponent field goal percentage of 42.1% (271 of 644) and they concede 34.8 boards per game as a team. They rank 179th in college hoops in allowing assists with 148 conceded for the season.

In their last game, the Texas Longhorns got the win with a final of 78-33 against Incarnate Word. The Longhorns recorded 28 defensive rebounds and 12 offensive rebounds totaling 40 for this contest. They also coughed up the ball 8 times, while getting 10 steals for this contest. Incarnate Word earned 8 fouls in the game which took the Longhorns to the charity stripe for 6 tries. They were able to make 5 of the free throw attempts for a rate of 83.3%. When talking about 3-pointers, Texas buried 7 out of their 26 tries (26.9%). When this game wrapped up, the Longhorns shot 33 out of 65 from the field which gave them a rate of 50.8%. The Longhorns permitted Incarnate Word to convert 13 of their 49 attempts from the field which gave them a percentage of 26.5% in the matchup. They went 19.0% from distance by connecting on 4 of 21 and walked away from this one shooting 3 out of 7 from the free throw line (42.9%). In the matter of how they attacked the glass, Texas permitted Incarnate Word to collect 25 overall (6 offensive).

Dylan Disu was important for the Longhorns in the matchup. He tallied 14 points in his 20 minutes on the hardwood and accumulated 1 assist for this game. He knocked down 5 of 9 in this game for a rate of 55.6%, and earned 11 rebounds.

Texas has a mark of 10-2 this season. The Longhorns commit 14.4 personal fouls every game and they hit 76.5% from the free throw line. Their rate of earning assists is at 14.8 times per game (91st in Division 1) and they are losing possession via turnover 10.8 times per contest. Texas has 865 points for the year (72.1 per contest) and they grab 33.8 rebounds per game. When it comes to offensive execution, the Longhorns are shooting 47.5% from the field, which ranks them 54th in Division 1.

The Longhorns on the defensive end are ranked 1st in Division 1 in points given up per game with 51.3. They are able to force 18.3 turnovers per game and have allowed teams to shoot 39.1% from the field (45th in the nation). The Texas defense allows 30.2% on three-point shots (67 of 222) and their opponents are connecting on 59.6% of their free throw attempts. They relinquish 8.5 dimes and 29.4 rebounds per game, which has them ranked 6th and 15th in those categories on the defensive end.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take West Virginia

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