BYU Cougars vs Texas Tech Red Raiders Prediction, 1/17/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: BYU Cougars vs Texas Tech Red Raiders

Date: Saturday, January 17, 2026

Location: United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, TX

TV: ESPN+

United Supermarkets Arena is the location where the Texas Tech Red Raiders (13-4) will take on the BYU Cougars (16-1) on Saturday.

The BYU Cougars stepped onto the hardwood against TCU and took home the win by a score of 76-70 in their last contest. BYU ended with a 35.3% FG percentage (24 of 68) and made 5 of their 24 3-pointers. At the charity stripe, the Cougars made 23 of their 29 shots for a percentage of 79.3%. In relation to rebounding, they earned 47 with 19 of them being of the offensive sort. They also distributed 11 dimes in this game in addition to forcing the opposition into 8 turnovers and having 5 steals. Pertaining to defending, BYU allowed 41.0% from the floor on 25 out of 61 shooting. TCU totaled 16 assists and had 3 steals in the game. In addition, TCU grabbed 29 rebounds (5 offensive, 24 defensive), but wasn't able to record a rejection. TCU walked away from this one shooting 66.7% from the free throw line by knocking down 12 of their 18 tries. They also converted 8 out of their 27 attempts from 3-point range. When discussing fouls, the Cougars ended up with 19 and TCU accounted for 22 fouls.

Richie Saunders is one player who came through for the game. He racked up 24 points on 9 out of 16 shooting. He was on the court for 35 mins and also snagged 14 boards. He finished shooting 56.3% from the field and also totaled 3 dimes.

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BYU comes into this game with a win-loss mark of 16-1 for the campaign. They are averaging 87.5 pts per contest (25th in D-1) while connecting on 49.3% from the floor. The Cougars are connecting on 35.7% on three-point shots (154 of 431) and 74.8% from the free throw line. As a team, BYU is collecting 40.6 rebounds per game and has accumulated 266 assists for the campaign, which is 131st in Division 1 in terms of passing the rock. They are turning it over 10.9 times per contest and as a team they commit 14.6 personal fouls every game.

Defensively, the Cougars are able to force 12.9 turnovers per contest and they draw 19.5 personal fouls. They rank 202nd in the nation in giving up assists to their opponents with 233 relinquished this year. The Cougars defensively are allowing a FG percentage of 40.5% (431 of 1,065) and they surrender 33.6 boards per contest as a team. They are giving up 29.9% on three-point shots and they are ranked 72nd in D-1 in opponents points per game (68.8).

For their last game, the Texas Tech Red Raiders took home the win by a final score of 88-74 against Utah. The Red Raiders were able to pull down 26 defensive rebounds and 11 offensive boards totaling 37 in this game. They turned the ball over 11 times, while getting 4 steals in this contest. Utah committed 9 fouls in this matchup which got the Red Raiders to the free throw line for a total of 5 shots. They were able to bury 3 of the free throws for a rate of 60.0%. Pertaining to shooting from distance, Texas Tech converted 13 out of their 31 tries (41.9%). At the conclusion of this game, the Red Raiders finished shooting 36 out of 70 from the field which had them shooting 51.4%. The Red Raiders allowed Utah to convert 25 out of their 58 attempts from the field which gave them a percentage of 43.1% for the matchup. They went 48.0% from downtown by shooting 12 of 25 and finished the game at 12 of 17 at the free throw line (70.6%). In relation to cleaning up the glass, Texas Tech permitted Utah to snag 24 overall (5 on the offensive glass).

Donovan Atwell ended up having an impact for the Red Raiders for the game. He scored 17 points in his 35 minutes on the hardwood and had 4 assists in the game. He knocked down 6 out of 15 in the matchup giving him a field goal percentage of 40.0%, and accumulated 3 rebounds.

Texas Tech has a win-loss record of 13-4 for the campaign. In terms of offensive execution, the Red Raiders are shooting 46.8% from the floor, which is ranked 114th in college hoops. Texas Tech has tallied 1,417 pts for the campaign (83.4 per contest) and they collect 38.7 boards per game. Their rate of assisting teammates is at 16.4 times per game (77th in college hoops) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 10.3 times per game. The Red Raiders have committed 16.6 fouls per contest and they hit 68.9% from the free throw line.

The Red Raiders on the defensive end are ranked 176th in college hoops in PPG surrendered with 73.2. They are able to force 11.1 turnovers per game and have allowed teams to shoot 43.9% from the floor (200th in D-1). The Texas Tech defense concedes 32.5% on 3-point shots (116 of 357) and opponents are making 69.0% of their shots from the free throw line. They have relinquished 11.1 assists and 34.6 total rebounds per game, which is 34th and 194th in those categories on the defensive end.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take BYU

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