La Salle Explorers vs Houston Cougars Prediction, 11/2/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: La Salle Explorers vs Houston Cougars

Date: Monday, November 2, 2026

Location: Fertitta Center in Houston, TX

TV: CBSSN

The Houston Cougars (30-7 last season) will compete against the La Salle Explorers (9-23 last year) at Fertitta Center on Monday.

The La Salle Explorers faced St. Bonaventure and took a loss by a score of 99-80 in their last game. La Salle finished the game having earned a 43.1% field goal percentage (28 out of 65) and knocked down 4 of 16 3-point attempts. From the charity stripe, the Explorers made 20 of their 25 shots for a rate of 80.0%. Pertaining to grabbing boards, they compiled 25 with 12 of them being of the offensive sort. They also dished out 12 dimes in this game while forcing the opposition into 14 turnovers and having 11 steals. With respect to defense, La Salle allowed the other team to shoot 56.7% from the floor on 38 out of 67 shooting. St. Bonaventure totaled 24 assists and had 8 steals for this contest. In addition, St. Bonaventure grabbed 37 boards (13 offensive, 24 defensive), but couldn't earn a rejection. St. Bonaventure ended up shooting 71.4% from the charity stripe by knocking down 10 of their 14 attempts. They knocked down 13 out of their 24 attempts from three-point range. When talking about personal fouls, the Explorers walked away with 16 while St. Bonaventure racked up 17 personal fouls.

Rob Dockery is someone who was a factor in the matchup. He left the arena with 33 points on 11 of 22 shooting. He was on the court for 38 minutes played and also totaled 10 rebounds. He finished the game shooting 50.0% from the field and recorded 2 assists.

Get all of our NCAA Betting Picks

La Salle will enter this contest after finishing with a win-loss mark of 9-23 last year. They turned it over 12.1 times per contest and as a team committed 16.3 personal fouls per game. As a team, La Salle snagged 35.1 rebounds per game and tallied 415 assists last season, which had them ranked 261st in college hoops in terms of passing the ball. The Explorers connected on 29.8% on three-point attempts (171 of 573) and 72.4% from the charity stripe. They had an average of 67.1 pts per game (342nd in D-1) while hitting 41.0% from the field.

When they were on defense, the Explorers forced 11.4 turnovers on a nightly basis and they drew 17.1 fouls. They relinquished 36.3% from beyond the arc and they were 187th in the country in points per game from their opponents (74.1). The Explorers defense allowed a FG percentage of 46.5% (852 of 1,833) and they surrendered 34.6 boards per contest as a team. They were 328th in the nation in allowing assists to the opposition with 520 surrendered last season.

In their last game, the Houston Cougars took a loss by a final score of 65-55 when they played Illinois. Regarding how they cleaned up the glass, Houston permitted Illinois to pull down 37 overall (9 offensive). They went 39.1% from behind the 3-point line via 9 out of 23 and ended up shooting 12 of 21 at the charity stripe (57.1%). The Cougars permitted Illinois to make 22 out of 51 tries from the floor which had them at 43.1% for the contest. When the game finished, the Cougars ended up shooting 22 out of 64 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 34.4%. In relation to three-point attempts, Houston converted 9 of 32 tries (28.1%). They were able to make 2 of the free throw attempts for a rate of 100.0%. Illinois was called for 14 personal fouls in this game which took the Cougars to the free throw line for a total of 2 tries. They also turned the ball over 4 times, while getting 4 steals in the game. The Cougars were able to snag 19 defensive boards and 6 offensive boards totaling 25 for the game.

Emanuel Sharp pitched in for the Cougars for the contest. He buried 7 out of 16 in this game giving him a rate of 43.8%, and had 2 rebounds. He racked up 17 points in his 39 mins on the court and had 1 assist for the matchup.

Houston had a win-loss record of 30-7 last season. The Cougars committed 17.9 personal fouls every game and they connected on 77.3% from the free throw line. They assisted teammates 14.6 times per game (128th in the country) and they turned it over 8.3 times per contest. Houston earned 2,844 points last season (76.9 per game) and they collected 37.1 boards per game. As an offense, the Cougars shot 44.8% from the floor, which was ranked 199th in the nation.

The Houston defense surrendered 31.6% on three-point shots (254 of 803) and their opposition knocked down 69.5% of their shots from the free throw line. They gave up 23.9 assists and 33.6 boards on a nightly basis, which was ranked 333rd and 124th in the nation. The Cougars on defense were ranked 2nd in college in PPG given up with 62.3. They forced their opponents into 13.4 TO's per game and allowed teams to shoot 39.6% from the field (13th in college hoops).

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take La Salle

Get $60 worth of FREE premium member picks. No Obligation. No Salesman. No Credit Card. Fast Sign up with Instant Access Click Here

Get college basketball picks on every single game, or if you want our very best bets by the experts, sign up for your free $60 account with a guarantee.