No. 6 Houston travels to No. 12 Texas Tech for a Top-15 matchup on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT on ESPN. The game was moved up from a 5:30 p.m. tip off due to Winter Storm Fern. The Cougars (17-1, 5-0 Big 12) come in off five straight conference wins, including a 103-73 whopper over Arizona State at home last Sunday. The Red Raiders (15-4, 5-1 Big 12) have won four games in a row, most notably a 13-point win over BYU in Lubbock last weekend; Texas Tech returned to the floor on Tuesday for a 92-73 road win at Baylor.
Houston vs. Texas Tech Spread and Over/Under
Houston opened as 2-point favorite with an over/under at 140.5 points. As of Saturday morning, Houston was down to a 1-point favorite, with very little movement on the over/under.
TOP STORYLINE: DOES HOUSTON’S STREAK END IN LUBBOCK?
Houston’s 16-game road winning streak meets a tall task in Texas Tech, which trails the Cougars in the all-time series 33-28, following a 69-65 win for the Cougars earlier this month. Houston rose one spot in the AP Top 25 following a heater of a home win against the Sun Devils last weekend. Freshman guard Kingston Flemings led four double-figure scorers with 20 points and eight assists; Chris Cenac Jr. (18 points, eight rebounds) flirted with a double-double, and Milos Uzan finished 4-of-7 behind the arc.
JT Toppin, the latest Big 12 Player of the Week, is coming off a 22-point night in Waco on 10-of-16 shooting. The 6-foot-9, Dallas, Texas, native put up a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds at Houston in the series’ last meeting. Texas Tech finished a rebound shy of the Cougars last time around; Cenac and 6-foot-8 forward Joseph Tugler must be denied another big night on the boards.
MATCH UP TO WATCH: CHRISTIAN ANDERSON AND EMANUEL SHARP
It’s redemption time for Texas Tech sophomore Christian Anderson, held to just 7 points on 3-for-11 shooting by veteran guard Emanuel Sharp last time out in Houston. Anderson has bounced back to remain among the Big 12’s top-10 producers (20.2 ppg), and now gets his next big litmus test at home against a title contender. On the other hands, Sharp has shot 42% or worse since the calendar flipped over, but has logged two or more triples in his last four outings.
PREDICTION: TEXAS TECH 74, HOUSTON 71
Houston’s defense is obviously good enough to win on the road, but it’ll come at a high cost against a Texas Tech team that’s averaging nearly 90 points through its last three wins against Baylor, BYU and Utah. Much of that production comes behind the arc, where Texas Tech is shooting nearly 40% and just matched a season-high 17 triples at Baylor on Tuesday (The Red Raiders are 13-1 when tallying 10 or more 3s). Houston’s defense allows the second-fewest points in the country, but it hasn’t met quite as many high-volume offenses as Texas Tech has in this early part of the conference schedule. This game boils down to the deep ball and how often Houston takes it away from their opponent.
