Florida Gators vs Houston Cougars Prediction, 4/7/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Florida Gators vs Houston Cougars

Date: Monday, April 7, 2025

Location: Alamodome in San Antonio, TX

TV: CBS

Odds/Point Spread: Houston (+2)

The Alamodome is where the Houston Cougars (35-4) will play the Florida Gators (35-4) on Monday in the NCAA Championship game. Houston opens this game as 2-point dogs. The over/under is set at 140.

The Florida Gators took the court against Auburn and earned the victory with a final of 79-73 in their last game. In regard to personal fouls, the Gators left the arena with 15 while Auburn totaled 22 personal fouls. They knocked down 7 of their 25 shots from long range. Auburn ended up shooting 69.6% when shooting free throws by making 16 of their 23 attempts. Furthermore, Auburn collected 29 rebounds (9 offensive, 20 defensive), but wasn't able to put a block in the stat sheet. Auburn doled out 11 assists and had 11 steals in this game. In the matter of defending, Florida allowed 43.9% from the field on 25 of 57 shooting. They also distributed 7 assists for this contest in addition to forcing 12 turnovers and having 7 steals. In regard to rebounding, they earned 38 with 12 of them being of the offensive sort. From the free throw line, the Gators converted 21 of 30 attempts for a percentage of 70.0%. Florida finished the contest having earned a 47.2% FG percentage (25 of 53) and made 8 out of their 21 shots from distance.

Walter Clayton Jr. is someone who was a factor for the contest. He recorded 34 points on 11 of 18 shooting. He was on the court for 35 minutes and totaled 4 rebounds. He finished the game shooting 61.1% from the field and also dished out 2 dimes.

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Florida comes into this contest with a mark of 35-4 for the campaign. They average 85.3 pts per contest (3rd in Division 1) while shooting 47.3% from the field. The Gators are shooting 35.8% on shots from downtown (384 of 1073) and 72.6% from the charity stripe. As a unit, Florida is pulling in 41.9 boards per game and has earned 605 assists for the campaign, which ranks 14th in the nation in terms of passing the rock. They lose possession by turning the ball over 11.1 times per contest and as a team are committing 17.3 fouls on a nightly basis.

On the defensive end, the Gators have forced 11.8 turnovers per game and they draw 17.5 fouls. They give up 29.5% on 3-pointers while they are 104th in college hoops in points per game from their opponents (69.8). The Gators defense is allowing a shooting percentage of 40.1% (952 of 2,372) and they surrender 33.3 rebounds per game as a unit. They rank 189th in college in allowing assists with 436 surrendered so far this season.

The last time they took the court, the Houston Cougars walked away with a victory by a final of 70-67 when they played Duke. The Cougars collected 23 defensive boards and 15 offensive rebounds for a total of 38 in this contest. They also coughed up the ball 8 times, while getting 6 steals for the matchup. Duke committed 16 fouls for this game which took the Cougars to the charity stripe for 18 tries. They were able to make 14 of the free throw tries for a clip of 77.8%. In regard to shooting from downtown, Houston knocked down 10 out of 22 attempts (45.5%). When the final whistle was blown, the Cougars ended up going 23 for 61 from the floor which had them shooting 37.7%. The Cougars permitted Duke to convert 21 out of their 53 attempts from the floor which left them with a shooting percentage of 39.6% for this contest. They finished the game shooting 41.2% from downtown via 7 of 17 and walked away from this one shooting 18 of 23 at the free throw line (78.3%). Regarding how they cleaned up the glass, Houston permitted Duke to collect 29 in all (10 on the offensive glass).

LJ Cryer ended up being a factor for the Cougars in this matchup. He scored 26 points in his 40 minutes on the court and had 1 assist for the contest. He made 8 of 14 for this contest giving him a rate of 57.1%, and tallied 5 rebounds.

Houston has a mark of 35-4 so far this season. The Cougars have committed 16.2 fouls every game and they connect on 74.2% from the charity stripe. They are dishing out assists 12.3 times per game (281st in the country) and they lose possession via turnover 9.0 times per contest. Houston has scored 2,883 points for the campaign (73.9 per contest) and they pull in 36.8 boards per game. On the offensive side of the ball, the Cougars are shooting 45.2% from the floor, which ranks them 146th in the nation.

The Cougars are ranked 1st in D-1 in PPG allowed with 58.5. They are able to force 13.2 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 38.2% from the field (1st in college hoops). The Houston defense gives up 30.3% on shots from behind the 3-point line (263 of 868) and their opposition makes 71.6% of their foul shots. They allow 11.4 assists and 31.4 boards per contest, which ranks 41st and 23rd in college hoops.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Houston (+2)

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