Houston Cougars vs SMU Mustangs Prediction, 2/16/2023 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Houston Cougars vs SMU Mustangs

Date: Thursday, February 16, 2023

Location: Moody Coliseum in University Park, TX

TV: ESPN2

The Houston Cougars (23-2) are headed to Moody Coliseum on Thursday where they will take on the SMU Mustangs (9-17).

The Houston Cougars faced Tulsa and notched a win by a score of 80-42 in their last game. In regard to fouls, the Cougars ended up walking away with 16 while Tulsa accumulated 11 fouls. They also made 4 of their 29 shots from 3-point land. Tulsa shot 57.1% at the charity stripe by burying 8 of 14 shots. In addition, Tulsa pulled down 26 boards (6 offensive, 20 defensive), but didn't notch a rejection. Tulsa doled out 10 dimes and had 4 steals in the matchup. Regarding defense, Houston allowed the other team to go 27.8% from the floor on 15 out of 54 shooting. They also distributed 21 assists in this game in addition to forcing 9 turnovers and getting 4 steals. In terms of hauling in rebounds, they earned 50 with 15 of them being of the offensive variety. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Cougars knocked down 5 of their 6 shots for a rate of 83.3%. Houston ended the game having earned a 46.3% field goal percentage (31 out of 67) and converted 13 out of their 35 shots from beyond the perimeter.

Marcus Sasser is a guy who was a contributor in the game. He scored 25 points on 10 of 17 shooting. He saw the court for 27 minutes and collected 3 rebounds. He finished 58.8% from the field and distributed 2 assists.

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Houston will take the court with a win-loss mark of 23-2 on the campaign. They lose possession via turnover 9.6 times per contest and as a team they are committing 15.8 fouls every game. As a unit, Houston is collecting 39.0 boards per game and has 373 dimes so far this year, which ranks 98th in college hoops in terms of passing. The Cougars are hitting 36.1% on 3-point shots (199 of 552) and 70.5% from the charity stripe. They average 75.6 pts per contest (89th in Division 1) while hitting 47.2% from the floor.

On defense, the Cougars are able to force 14.4 turnovers every game and they draw 15.7 fouls. They rank 10th in D-1 in allowing assists to the opposition with 245 conceded on the campaign. The Cougars defense is giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 35.2% (458 of 1,302) and they concede 31.5 boards per game as a team. They give up 26.5% on 3-point shots and they are 1st in college hoops in points per game from their opponents (55.0).

When they last played, the SMU Mustangs took a defeat with a final score of 91-89 when they faced Wichita State. In regard to attacking the glass, SMU allowed Wichita State to get 36 in total (8 offensive). They shot 33.3% from beyond the arc by connecting on 5 out of 15 and finished the game at 16 of 22 from the free throw line (72.7%). The Mustangs allowed Wichita State to bury 35 of 61 attempts from the floor which gave them a percentage of 57.4% for this contest. Overall, the Mustangs finished the game shooting 37 out of 79 from the field which had them shooting 46.8%. In the matter of three-point shots, SMU converted 6 of 20 attempts (30.0%). They were able to bury 9 of those for a clip of 52.9%. Wichita State earned 23 personal fouls for this contest which took the Mustangs to the free throw line for a total of 17 attempts. They coughed up the ball 10 times, while earning 11 steals in the matchup. The Mustangs recorded 18 defensive rebounds and 10 offensive rebounds for a total of 28 in this matchup.

Zhuric Phelps ended up being a factor for the Mustangs for the contest. He had 26 points in his 46 minutes on the hardwood and added 5 assists in the game. He knocked down 9 of 17 in this contest for a field goal rate of 52.9%, and had 3 rebounds.

SMU has a record of 9-17 this season. As an offensive team, the Mustangs are hitting on 42.0% from the field, which ranks 308th in D-1. SMU has scored 1,824 pts for the season (70.2 per contest) and they collect 35.3 rebounds per contest. They are earning an assist 13.6 times per contest (151st in the country) and they turn it over 12.9 times per contest. The Mustangs commit 17.3 fouls per contest and they connect on 66.9% from the free throw line.

The SMU defense gives up 33.5% on 3-pointers (192 of 573) and their opposition makes 72.0% of their shots from the free throw line. They surrender 15.1 dimes and 38.4 boards every game, which ranks them 336th and 353rd in college hoops. The Mustangs on defense are ranked 308th in college basketball in points allowed per game with 74.7. They are able to force 13.5 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 44.3% from the floor (236th in college basketball).

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Houston

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