Miami Hurricanes vs Houston Cougars Prediction, 3/24/2023 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Miami Hurricanes vs Houston Cougars

Date: Friday, March 24, 2023

Location: T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, MO

TV: CBS

Odds/Point Spread: Miami (+7)

The Miami Hurricanes (27-7) are en route to T-Mobile Center on Friday where they will go up against the Houston Cougars (33-3). Houston is 7-point favorites from Vegas oddsmakers. The total has been set at 138.5.

The Miami Hurricanes faced Indiana and took home the win by a score of 85-69 in their last game. Miami finished the contest with a 48.6% field goal percentage (34 out of 70) and made 9 of their 23 shots from beyond the arc. At the charity stripe, the Hurricanes buried 8 of 13 attempts for a rate of 61.5%. In terms of pulling down rebounds, they compiled 45 with 19 of them being of the offensive sort. They also recorded 14 assists in this game as well as forcing 12 turnovers and having 7 steals. In reference to defense, Miami allowed their opponent to shoot 41.3% from the floor on 26 out of 63 shooting. Indiana earned 10 dimes and had 9 steals for the contest. Additionally, Indiana snagged 29 rebounds (11 offensive, 18 defensive), but wrapped up the game with no rejections. Indiana ended up shooting 64.3% from the free throw line by knocking down 9 of their 14 attempts. They converted 8 of their 25 attempts from three-point range. When discussing personal fouls, the Hurricanes ended up finishing with 13 while Indiana totaled 14 personal fouls.

Isaiah Wong is one player who was a contributor in this contest. He finished 52.9% from the floor but finished the game without an assist. He played for 36 mins played and also totaled 8 rebounds. He left the arena with 27 points on 9 out of 17 shooting.

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Miami enters this game with a mark of 27-7 so far this year. They currently have an average of 79.1 points per game (24th in D-1) on 48.1% from the floor. The Hurricanes are connecting on 36.8% on three-point shots (258 of 702) and 77.4% from the charity stripe. As a team, Miami is grabbing 35.1 boards per game and has accumulated 498 assists on the season, which is 60th in Division 1 in terms of passing the rock. They are giving up possession 11.3 times per contest and as a team they are committing 14.3 fouls per contest.

On defense, the Hurricanes are forcing their opponents into 12.5 turnovers per game while drawing 15.1 personal fouls. They are conceding 33.4% on three-point shots and they are ranked 227th in the country in points per game allowed (71.6). The Hurricanes defense is allowing and opponent field goal percentage of 44.7% (909 of 2,033) and they concede 32.0 boards per game as a squad. They rank 331st in college basketball in allowing assists to their opponents with 484 conceded on the season.

In their last game, the Houston Cougars got the victory with a final of 81-64 against Auburn. The Cougars were able to corral 25 defensive rebounds and 10 offensive rebounds for a total of 35 for the contest. They coughed up the ball 6 times, while getting 4 steals for the contest. Auburn had 22 personal fouls in this contest which got the Cougars to the free throw line for a total of 29 attempts. They were able to convert 24 of the free throws for a percentage of 82.8%. Pertaining to shots from downtown, Houston buried 7 of 22 tries (31.8%). At the conclusion of this game, the Cougars walked away from this one shooting 25 for 60 from the floor which had them shooting 41.7%. The Cougars allowed Auburn to convert 20 of 53 attempts from the field which gave them a percentage of 37.7% for the matchup. They finished 31.3% from downtown by shooting 5 of 16 and ended up shooting 19 out of 36 from the free throw line (52.8%). In reference to attacking the glass, Houston permitted Auburn to get 25 overall (7 on the offensive glass).

Tramon Mark ended up being a major contributor for the Cougars for this contest. He scored 26 points in his 37 minutes on the court, but finished this game without an assist. He converted 9 out of 17 in the matchup for a field goal rate of 52.9%, and accounted for 9 rebounds.

Houston has a mark of 33-3 so far this year. The Cougars commit 16.7 fouls every game and they hit 72.7% from the charity stripe. They are getting an assist 14.7 times per contest (68th in Division 1) and they are giving up possession 10.1 times per contest. Houston has totaled 2,695 points for the year (74.9 per game) and they snag 39.1 boards per game. On the offensive side of the ball, the Cougars are shooting 46.1% from the field, which has them ranked 80th in the country.

The Cougars on the defensive side of the court are 2nd in college basketball in PPG surrendered with 56.6. They are forcing 13.9 TO's every game and have let teams shoot 36.1% from the floor (1st in college basketball). The Houston defense concedes 27.4% from downtown (223 of 815) and their opponents are knocking down 68.5% of their free throw attempts. They have allowed 10.0 dimes and 31.6 total rebounds per game, which is ranked 16th and 42nd in Division 1.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Houston (-7)

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