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No. 5 Houston is on a roll and will host East Carolina on Wednesday in an attempt to extend its winning streak to nine games. Houston is the top-ranked team in the American Athletic Conference, while East Carolina is scraping the bottom of the barrel. It’s safe to say that the Cougars have a major advantage in this matchup.
Houston (15-1, 10-1) sits atop the conference standings and has only suffered a one-point loss to Tulsa this season. Quentin Grimes tallied a season-low six points in the Cougars’ latest win but has carried the scoring load with a team-high 16 points per game. Sophomore guard Marcus Sasser isn’t far behind with 15.6 points per game, and the backcourt duo has a good chance to get going against the Pirates. The Cougars have won by double-digits in six straight games.
East Carolina (7-6, 1-6) has lost five straight games but has been respectable outside of conference play. The Pirates haven’t faced the Cougars yet this season and could need a strong performance from Jayden Gardener, who leads the team in points (17.1) and rebounds (8.1) per game to be competitive.
Game Time/TV Channel/Streaming
You can watch Houston vs. East Carolina on Wednesday, February 3rd at 6:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+, a subscription service available as an add-on from ESPN even for non-subscribers.
Point Spread, Totals, Odds, Trends
Point spread: Houston -16.5
Point Total: 129
Money line: Houston -2500, East Carolina +1150
- Houston are 6-0 ATS in their last 6 games, with the over 5-4-1 in the last 10.
- East Carolina are 0-5 ATS in their last 5 games, with the over 5-4-1 as well.
The Best Bet
Houston has been a lifeless corpse this season. This should be an easy spot for the Cougars, who can name their score if they choose to get a blowout. We say they’ll want to hang a number in Greenville.
Pick: UH -16.5
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