Houston vs. BYU College Basketball prediction, preview
We have a battle of the Cougars on Saturday night, with the home Cougars starting to enter “must-win” territory. BYU enters Saturday on a three-game losing streak, dropping four of its last five games overall. While BYU was an underdog in three of the four losses, they were each priced close to a coin flip, with the +2.5 spread at Kansas and Texas Tech being the longest numbers.
But things went from bad to worse for BYU when it lost what was supposed to be the big bounce-back game on Wednesday night on the road at Oklahoma State. The Cougars gave up more than 86 points for the third time in as many games, and now have to face a Houston defense that can suffocate any offense.
Houston has been machine-like since joining the Big 12, dominating the conference not only at home, but specifically on the road. The loss that Houston took at Texas Tech is the only loss it has in its last 18 road games, so while BYU is a very tough place to play, Houston can win anywhere in the country. Houston has won six of its last seven against some good BYU teams, and is 5-1 ATS the last six times they’ve met.
BYU will likely look to play with some pace, ranking 45th in the country in adjusted tempo. But Houston will look to muck the game up, playing at just the 348th adjusted tempo. As efficient as BYU is on the offensive side, ranking 11th on KenPom, Houston’s balance should be an issue. Houston ranks top-10 on both sides of the ball, and will look to continue exposing BYU on defense. BYU ranks 45th in defensive efficiency, and has been sliding during the losing streak.
As big of a game as this is for the home Cougars, I trust Houston to continue to do what they do best in Big 12 competition, and that’s pull out gritty wins on the road.
