Baylor Bears vs Houston Cougars Prediction, 3/4/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Baylor Bears vs Houston Cougars

Date: Wednesday, March 4, 2026

Location: Fertitta Center in Houston, TX

TV: ESPN2

Fertitta Center is the location where the Houston Cougars (24-5) will go up against the Baylor Bears (15-14) on Wednesday.

The Baylor Bears stepped onto the hardwood against UCF and went home with a win by a final score of 87-86 in their last contest. Baylor finished the game with a 46.9% field goal percentage (30 out of 64) and converted 9 of 23 shots from distance. From the charity stripe, the Bears made 18 of their 22 attempts for a percentage of 81.8%. With regard to pulling down boards, they collected 28 with 11 of them being of the offensive sort. They also distributed 19 dimes in the matchup in addition to forcing the other team into 6 turnovers and getting 3 steals. In the matter of defense, Baylor allowed their opponent to shoot 51.7% from the field on 31 out of 60 shooting. UCF totaled 22 assists and had 4 steals for the matchup. Furthermore, UCF grabbed 27 rebounds (9 offensive, 18 defensive), but didn't record a block for the team. UCF walked away from this one shooting 84.2% from the charity stripe by knocking down 16 of their 19 tries. They also converted 8 out of their 18 attempts from distance. In reference to personal fouls, the Bears walked away with 15 and UCF recorded 15 personal fouls.

Cameron Carr is a guy who was a major factor in this matchup. He finished shooting 46.2% from the field and also distributed 2 dimes. He was on the court for 38 minutes and also pulled down 4 rebounds. He recorded 26 points on 6 of 13 shooting.

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Baylor steps onto the hardwood with a win-loss mark of 15-14 on the campaign. They are giving up possession 11.6 times per contest and as a group they are committing 16.3 fouls on a nightly basis. As a unit, Baylor is grabbing 37.2 rebounds per game and has tallied 455 dimes on the season, which is 99th in D-1 in terms of passing. The Bears are hitting 34.8% on shots beyond the perimeter (239 of 686) and 72.7% from the free throw line. They are averaging 82.7 pts per game (47th in the nation) while shooting 47.8% from the field.

When they are on defense, the Bears are able to force 11.1 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 18.4 fouls. They are 191st in college hoops in giving up assists to the opposition with 400 conceded for the campaign. The Bears are giving up a FG percentage of 45.1% (808 of 1,791) and they surrender 32.6 rebounds per contest as a team. They concede 34.8% on shots from beyond the arc and they rank 265th in the nation in points per game allowed (77.0).

For their last game, the Houston Cougars went home victorious with a score of 102-62 when they played Colorado. When talking about team rebounding, Houston allowed Colorado to collect 18 in total (2 on the offensive side). They finished 21.4% from 3-point land by going 3 out of 14 and ended up going 13 out of 18 from the free throw line (72.2%). The Cougars allowed Colorado to make 23 out of 50 attempts from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 46.0% for the contest. In all, the Cougars finished the game shooting 34 out of 57 from the field which gave them a percentage of 59.6%. In the matter of shots from beyond the perimeter, Houston converted 10 out of 17 attempts (58.8%). They were able to knock down 24 of the free throws for a percentage of 77.4%. Colorado committed 21 personal fouls for the game which took the Cougars to the charity stripe for a total of 31 shots. They also coughed up the ball 4 times, while recording 8 steals in the game. The Cougars corralled 24 defensive boards and 7 offensive boards for a total of 31 for the matchup.

Milos Uzan ended up being important for the Cougars in this matchup. He converted 9 out of 13 in this contest for a rate of 69.2%, and accumulated 1 rebound. He earned 26 points in his 32 mins of playing time and added 6 dimes in this game.

Houston has a mark of 24-5 this year. The Cougars are committing 18.2 fouls per contest and they connect on 77.6% from the free throw line. They are dishing out assists 15.1 times per contest (112th in the country) and they are losing possession via turnover 8.3 times per game. Houston has accounted for 2,248 points this season (77.5 per game) and they snag 36.8 rebounds per game. As an offense, the Cougars are shooting 44.9% from the floor, which is 201st in the nation.

The Cougars on the defensive end are ranked 2nd in college hoops in points per game surrendered with 62.3. They are forcing 13.9 turnovers per game and have let teams shoot 40.2% from the field (23rd in college). The Houston defense gives up 31.4% on 3-point attempts (194 of 618) and their opposition knocks down 67.9% of their free throw shots. They have allowed 11.3 dimes and 33.2 boards per game, which ranks them 34th and 106th in Division 1.

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Baylor

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