Idaho Vandals vs Houston Cougars Prediction, 3/19/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Idaho Vandals vs Houston Cougars

Date: Thursday, March 19, 2026

Location: Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, OK

TV: truTV

Odds/Point Spread: Houston (-24)

The Idaho Vandals (21-14) are headed to Paycom Center on Thursday where they will meet the Houston Cougars (28-6) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Idaho opens this matchup as 24-point dogs from oddsmakers. The total is set at 137.5.

The Idaho Vandals played Montana and took home the win by a score of 77-66 in their last contest. Regarding fouls, the Vandals finished with 15 while Montana racked up 22 fouls. They also knocked down 6 out of their 25 attempts from three-point range. Montana finished the contest at 76.2% at the free throw line by converting 16 of their 21 attempts. Moreover, Montana collected 25 boards (3 offensive, 22 defensive), but wasn't able to put a block in the stat sheet. Montana dished out 7 assists and had 6 steals for the contest. With respect to defending, Idaho allowed the other team to go 40.7% from the floor on 22 out of 54 shooting. They also doled out 6 assists for this contest as well as forcing 12 turnovers and having 8 steals. In regard to rebounding, they collected 38 with 11 of them being offensive. At the charity stripe, the Vandals buried 24 of their 32 tries for a percentage of 75.0%. Idaho ended the game having earned a 40.7% FG percentage (24 of 59) and made 5 of their 21 three-point shots.

Isaiah Brickner is a guy who was a contributor for this contest. He finished shooting 41.2% from the floor but didn't record a dime. He was on the court for 33 mins and also grabbed 10 boards. He accounted for 23 points on 7 of 17 shooting.

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Idaho heads into this one with a mark of 21-14 on the year. They have an average of 78.7 pts per contest (108th in the country) while hitting 44.8% from the floor. The Vandals are connecting on 35.6% on shots from distance (349 of 981) and 73.5% from the charity stripe. As a unit, Idaho is pulling in 37.4 rebounds per contest and has earned 439 assists for the year, which is 199th in the country in terms of passing. They turn it over 10.6 times per contest and as a team they commit 18.2 fouls every game.

On the defensive end, the Vandals are able to force 10.8 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 18.7 personal fouls. They are conceding 34.3% on 3-point attempts and they rank 139th in the nation in points per game allowed (72.6). The Vandals are giving up an opponent FG percentage of 43.1% (863 of 2,003) and they relinquish 33.1 boards per game as a team. They are ranked 98th in the nation in giving up assists with 402 conceded this season.

When they last played, the Houston Cougars took a defeat with a final score of 79-74 when they played Arizona. The Cougars corralled 30 defensive rebounds and 10 offensive rebounds totaling 40 in the matchup. They gave up possession of the ball 5 times, while getting 4 steals for this game. Arizona was called for 11 fouls in this contest which took the Cougars to the charity stripe for 14 attempts. They were able to bury 10 of those for a percentage of 71.4%. With respect to shooting from downtown, Houston converted 8 of 21 attempts (38.1%). At the conclusion of this game, the Cougars ended up shooting 28 out of 64 from the floor which had them shooting 43.8%. The Cougars allowed Arizona to make 25 out of their 54 attempts from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 46.3% in this contest. They finished shooting 46.2% from downtown by shooting 6 of 13 and finished the contest at 23 of 27 from the free throw line (85.2%). When discussing how they rebounded, Houston permitted Arizona to get 33 in total (13 offensive).

Joseph Tugler pitched in for the Cougars in the matchup. He scored 20 points in his 35 mins on the hardwood and had 3 assists for the game. He converted 9 of 15 in this game giving him a field goal percentage of 60.0%, and had 10 rebounds.

Houston has a win-loss record of 28-6 for the campaign. The Cougars have committed 18.0 personal fouls every game and they shoot 77.2% from the free throw line. They are earning an assist 14.7 times per contest (125th in D-1) and they lose possession via turnover 8.5 times per contest. Houston has accounted for 2,623 pts for the year (77.1 per game) and they average 36.6 rebounds per contest. As an offense, the Cougars are connecting on 45.0% from the floor, which is ranked 191st in the country.

The Houston defense concedes 32.1% on shots from beyond the perimeter (233 of 726) and their opponents are making 69.8% of their free throw shots. They relinquish 11.2 assists and 33.5 total boards per game, which has them ranked 30th and 120th in college hoops. The Cougars are ranked 2nd in college in points given up per game with 62.9. They are forcing 13.7 turnovers per game and have let teams shoot 40.0% from the field (18th in the country).

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Houston (-24)

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