Houston Cougars vs West Virginia Mountaineers Prediction, 1/29/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Houston Cougars vs West Virginia Mountaineers

Date: Wednesday, January 29, 2025

Location: WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, WV

TV: ESPN+

WVU Coliseum is where the West Virginia Mountaineers (13-6) will take on the Houston Cougars (16-3) on Wednesday.

The Houston Cougars faced Kansas and earned the victory with a final of 92-86 in their last contest. With respect to fouls, the Cougars walked away with 22 and Kansas racked up 17 fouls. They converted 9 out of their 25 tries from three-point range. Kansas finished the game shooting 56.7% at the charity stripe by knocking down 17 of their 30 tries. In addition, Kansas pulled down 43 boards (10 offensive, 33 defensive), but wasn't able to record a rejection. Kansas recorded 20 dimes and had 4 steals for the game. In the matter of defending, Houston allowed their opponent to shoot 45.5% from the field on 30 out of 66 shooting. They also dished out 17 assists in this contest while forcing the other team into 10 turnovers and having 5 steals. Concerning hauling in rebounds, they compiled 42 with 11 of them being of the offensive variety. When they shot from the free throw line, the Cougars converted 14 of 25 attempts for a percentage of 56.0%. Houston finished the game with a 47.9% field goal percentage (35 out of 73) and buried 8 of 25 three-point shots.

J'Wan Roberts is someone who was a major factor in this matchup. He finished the game at 47.6% from the floor and totaled 5 assists. He was on the hardwood for 46 mins and grabbed 9 rebounds. He walked away with 24 points on 10 of 21 shooting.

Get all of our NCAA Expert Picks

Houston comes into this game with a win-loss mark of 16-3 this season. They are averaging 76.7 points per game (125th in D-1) while hitting 45.9% from the field. The Cougars are shooting 39.5% on shots from beyond the arc (161 of 408) and 72.2% from the charity stripe. As a unit, Houston is grabbing 38.2 rebounds per contest and has totaled 255 assists for the season, which is 282nd in college in terms of passing the rock. They are giving up possession 8.7 times per game and as a unit they commit 16.7 personal fouls per contest.

When they are on defense, the Cougars are able to force 14.8 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 16.0 personal fouls. They surrender 30.2% on 3-pointers while they are 1st in D-1 in points per game allowed (55.6). The Cougars defensively are allowing a FG percentage of 36.0% (352 of 978) and they concede 32.3 rebounds per game as a group. They are currently ranked 14th in the country in allowing assists to the opposition with 198 conceded on the season.

The last time they took the court, the West Virginia Mountaineers walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 73-60 when they faced Kansas State. The Mountaineers snagged 20 defensive rebounds and 13 offensive boards totaling 33 in the game. They also coughed up the ball 8 times, while getting 8 steals for this game. Kansas State was called for 14 fouls in the game which got the Mountaineers to the free throw line for a total of 8 attempts. They were able to knock down 6 of those for a rate of 75.0%. With respect to shots from beyond the perimeter, West Virginia knocked down 4 of their 21 attempts (19.0%). In all, the Mountaineers finished the game shooting 25 out of 68 from the floor which had them shooting 36.8%. The Mountaineers allowed Kansas State to make 26 out of 55 attempts from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 47.3% in this matchup. They shot 35.3% from distance by shooting 6 out of 17 and ended up shooting 15 out of 22 at the free throw line (68.2%). In regard to rebounding, West Virginia allowed Kansas State to snag 36 in total (10 on the offensive side).

Javon Small ended up having an impact for the Mountaineers in this game. He converted 7 of 16 in this contest for a field goal rate of 43.8%, and had 2 rebounds. He totaled 22 points in his 38 minutes of playing time and totaled 5 assists in the matchup.

West Virginia has a win-loss record of 13-6 this season. The Mountaineers are committing 16.8 fouls every game and they go 75.7% from the charity stripe. They are dishing out assists 13.5 times per contest (208th in D-1) and they turn the ball over 10.7 times per game. West Virginia has scored 1,352 points so far this year (71.2 per game) and they average 34.6 boards per contest. When it comes to executing on offense, the Mountaineers are connecting on 42.3% from the field, which is 312th in the nation.

The Mountaineers on the defensive end are ranked 20th in D-1 in points given up per game with 64.4. They are forcing 13.4 TO's per game and have let teams shoot 40.1% from the floor (38th in college hoops). The West Virginia defense gives up 28.5% on shots from 3-point land (111 of 390) and their opposition knocks down 72.9% of their free throw shots. They have given up 10.3 assists and 37.2 boards on a nightly basis, which ranks 18th and 310th in D-1.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take West Virginia

Get $60 worth of FREE premium member picks. No Obligation. No Salesman. No Credit Card. Fast Sign up with Instant Access Click Here