College Basketball Best Bets, Jan. 29: Texas Longhorns vs Houston Cougars

Vaughn Dalzell predicts the first-half outcome of a Big 12 battle between the Houston Cougars and Texas Longhorns.

Houston (-5) at Texas: O/U 130.5

The biggest game of the College Basketball slate is a Big 12 battle between the Houston Cougars and Texas Longhorns.

In Big 12 home action, Texas led Baylor and UCF at the half in two of the past three home games with a four-point deficit to Texas Tech. Over the past seven games, Texas has trailed by three or fewer points or led at halftime in six of those seven contests.

The Longhorns have been playing better basketball in the last three weeks, while Houston has struggled on the road in Big 12 play.

Houston trailed and battled BYU before pulling away at the end of the first half and holding onto the lead for a seven-point win. However, Houston lost the first two true road games in Big 12 play at Iowa State and TCU, struggling in the first half as well.

The Cougars have only played four true road games all year and are shooting a combined 43.4% from two (324th) with a 44.9% effective field goal percentage (308th). All four road games were one, two, or three-possession outcomes for Houston (2-2 record). I expect the same between Texas and Houston.

Houston’s also in a look-ahead spot. The Cougars and Big 12 favorite have a road game on Saturday versus the cream of the crop in the Big 12, the Kansas Jayhawks. A win here versus Houston would do wonders for Texas’ resume and lock this team into the tournament.

I played the Longhorns 1H spread at +3 and -125 odds on DraftKings. I would play this down to +2.5 for +100 to -110 odds.

Pick: Texas 1H +3 (1u)

Season Record: 18-18 (50%) -2.61u

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