Cincinnati Bearcats vs Houston Cougars Prediction, 2/21/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Cincinnati Bearcats vs Houston Cougars

Date: Sunday, February 21, 2021

Location: Fertitta Center in Houston, TX

TV: ESPN

Odds/Point Spread: Cincinnati (+14.5)

The Cincinnati Bearcats (7-7) are headed to Fertitta Center on Sunday where they'll take on the Houston Cougars (17-3). Houston opens this game as 14.5-point favorites. The total is set at 136.

Cincinnati heads into this one with a record of 7-7 on the year. They are averaging 68.9 points per game (251st in D-1) while connecting on 43.0% from the floor. The Bearcats are hitting 28.6% on shots from 3-point land (87 of 304) and 66.0% from the free throw line. As a unit, Cincinnati is collecting 36.4 boards per game and has accounted for 211 assists this year, which is 240th in the nation in terms of passing the rock. They lose possession via turnover 14.9 times per contest and as a squad they commit 19.4 fouls every game. On defense, the Bearcats are forcing 13.6 turnovers per game and they draw 17.6 personal fouls. The Bearcats defense is allowing a FG percentage of 43.6% (338 of 775) and they concede 33.6 boards per game as a team. They are ranked 73rd in college hoops in allowing assists with 187 conceded this season. They are conceding 31.6% on shots from downtown and they rank 179th in college basketball in points per game allowed (70.1).

The Cincinnati Bearcats took the court against the UCF Knights and earned the victory with a final of 69-68 in their last game. Cincinnati ended the game with a 48.1% FG percentage (25 out of 52) and knocked down 6 of 22 3-pointers. When they shot from the free throw line, the Bearcats made 13 of their 19 tries for a rate of 68.4%. In terms of rebounding, they collected a total of 36 with 12 of them being offensive. They also doled out 15 assists in the matchup while getting 3 steals and 2 rejections. With regard to defense, Cincinnati allowed the other team to shoot 48.1% from the field on 25 out of 52 shooting. UCF dished out 16 assists and had 7 steals in this contest. In addition, the Knights collected 26 boards (9 offensive, 17 defensive) and had 2 blocked shots. UCF ended up shooting 81.8% when shooting free throws by knocking down 9 of their 11 shots. They also knocked down 11 out of their 30 attempts from three-point range.

Keith Williams is a guy who played a role for the matchup. He finished with 14 points on 6 out of 12 shooting. He played 34 minutes played and snagged 8 boards. Williams walked away from this one shooting 50.0% from the floor and also earned 4 assists. One more player that was a contributor in the matchup for the Bearcats was David Dejulius. He totaled 2 rebounds and also earned 2 dimes. He finished the contest at 50.0% from the field for this game by connecting on 6-of-12 (14 points). When the final whistle blew, Dejulius was on the hardwood for 32 minutes.

Houston has a mark of 17-3 on the season. In terms of offensive execution, the Cougars are hitting on 43.0% from the floor, which is 240th in the nation. Houston has scored 1,516 pts so far this season (75.8 per contest) and they grab 41.9 boards per game. Their rate of assisting teammates is at 13.1 times per contest (186th in college hoops) and they cough up possession 11.7 times per game. The Cougars commit 19.3 fouls every game while shooting 71.9% from the charity stripe. The Cougars on defense are ranked 2nd in the nation in points per game surrendered with 57.9. They have forced 15.3 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 36.7% from the floor (1st in college basketball). The Houston defense surrenders 26.7% on shots from beyond the arc (103 of 386) and their opponents are making 67.9% of their free throw shots. They allow 9.6 assists and 32.5 total rebounds per game, which has them ranked 9th and 68th in those categories on the defensive end.

For their last game, the Houston Cougars took a defeat with a final score of 68-63 when they played the Wichita State Shockers. The Cougars were able to snag 15 defensive boards and 11 offensive boards totaling 26 for the game. They stuffed 5 shots while recording 7 steals in the matchup. The Shockers committed 13 personal fouls for this contest which took the Cougars to the charity stripe for a total of 11 shots. They were able to knock down 5 of the free throw tries for a clip of 45.5%. When talking about shots from distance, Houston buried 8 of their 24 tries (33.3%). In all, the Cougars ended up going 25 out of 59 from the field which gave them a rate of 42.4%. The Cougars allowed the Shockers to make 20 out of 49 attempts from the field which gave them a rate of 40.8% for this game. They went 45.5% from behind the 3-point line by going 10 out of 22 and ended up shooting 18 of 23 at the free throw line (78.3%). In relation to team rebounding, Houston allowed Wichita State to collect 28 in total (10 on the offensive side).

Dejon Jarreau ended up having an impact for the Cougars in the game. He made 5 out of 11 in the matchup for a field goal rate of 45.5%, which had him sitting at 16 points. Jarreau snagged 2 boards in his 29 mins played and had 3 dimes for the game. One more player that ended up playing a role for Houston was Quentin Grimes. He ended up with 13 points in his 39 minutes on the hardwood via 5 of 12 from the floor for this game. Grimes walked away from this one going 41.7% from the field as well as collecting 2 dimes and 3 rebounds.

Who will win tonight's college basketball game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Houston (-14.5)

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