Texas Tech Red Raiders vs Houston Cougars Prediction, 1/6/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Texas Tech Red Raiders vs Houston Cougars

Date: Tuesday, January 6, 2026

Location: Fertitta Center in Houston, TX

TV: FS1

The Houston Cougars (13-1) will take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders (11-3) at Fertitta Center on Tuesday.

The Texas Tech Red Raiders took the court against Oklahoma State and took home the win by a score of 102-80 in their last game. When it comes to fouls, the Red Raiders walked away with 15 and Oklahoma State finished the game with 16 fouls. They also knocked down 8 of their 26 attempts from three-point range. Oklahoma State shot 73.7% from the free throw line by converting 14 of their 19 attempts. In addition, Oklahoma State snagged 35 rebounds (8 offensive, 27 defensive), but wrapped up the game with no rejections. Oklahoma State recorded 10 dimes and had 5 steals in this matchup. Regarding the defense, Texas Tech let their opponent shoot 43.3% from the floor on 29 out of 67 shooting. They also recorded 21 assists for this game while forcing the other team into 8 turnovers and earning 4 steals. Pertaining to pulling down boards, they earned 44 with 14 of them being offensive. At the charity stripe, the Red Raiders converted 11 of their 14 shots for a percentage of 78.6%. Texas Tech walked away from the game with a 48.1% FG percentage (37 out of 77) and converted 17 out of their 37 shots from beyond the arc.

JT Toppin is a player who was a major contributor for the game. He left the arena with 23 points on 10 of 19 shooting. He played 30 mins played and also grabbed 14 boards. He finished the game at 52.6% from the field and dished out 1 assist.

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Texas Tech will play this contest with a mark of 11-3 for the campaign. They are losing possession via turnover 10.1 times per contest and as a team they commit 16.6 personal fouls on a nightly basis. As a unit, Texas Tech is pulling down 38.3 rebounds per game and has accounted for 222 dimes for the season, which ranks 149th in Division 1 in terms of passing the ball. The Red Raiders are connecting on 38.1% on shots from 3-point land (155 of 407) and 69.3% from the free throw line. They are averaging 85.1 points per game (60th in the nation) while connecting on 47.2% from the floor.

On the defensive end, the Red Raiders are forcing 11.6 turnovers per contest and they draw 18.5 fouls. They concede 32.0% on shots from distance and they are 189th in college in opponents PPG (73.6). The Red Raiders defensively are allowing an opponent shooting percentage of 44.6% (378 of 847) and they concede 34.9 rebounds per game as a team. They rank 27th in the nation in giving up assists to the opposition with 156 relinquished this year.

When they last played, the Houston Cougars got the victory with a final of 67-60 against Cincinnati. In regard to attacking the glass, Houston permitted Cincinnati to get 27 in total (6 on the offensive side). They went 30.0% from distance by shooting 6 out of 20 and finished the game at 12 of 16 from the free throw line (75.0%). The Cougars allowed Cincinnati to make 21 out of their 49 tries from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 42.9% for this game. In all, the Cougars finished shooting 26 out of 63 from the floor which had them at 41.3%. In the matter of three-point attempts, Houston made 8 of their 25 attempts (32.0%). They were able to knock down 7 of the free throws for a clip of 77.8%. Cincinnati was called for 13 fouls in this contest which took the Cougars to the free throw line for a total of 9 attempts. They also gave up possession 7 times, while recording 9 steals for the contest. The Cougars pulled down 22 defensive boards and 9 offensive boards totaling 31 for the matchup.

Kingston Flemings ended up having an impact for the Cougars in this contest. He converted 7 of 18 for the matchup giving him a field goal percentage of 38.9%, and accounted for 3 rebounds. He totaled 19 points in his 38 mins of playing time and earned 6 dimes for the contest.

Houston has a win-loss mark of 13-1 on the season. The Cougars commit 17.6 fouls per contest and they shoot 76.3% from the charity stripe. They are dishing out assists 16.2 times per game (89th in the country) and they cough up possession 9.1 times per game. Houston has accounted for 1,090 points for the campaign (77.9 per contest) and they pull in 37.9 boards per game. As an offense, the Cougars are connecting on 45.0% from the field, which ranks 212th in D-1.

The Cougars on the defensive end are ranked 3rd in D-1 in PPG given up with 60.0. They are forcing their opponents into 15.6 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 39.1% from the field (29th in D-1). The Houston defense surrenders 29.0% on shots from behind the 3-point line (88 of 303) and opponents are making 66.7% of their foul shots. They concede 9.8 dimes and 33.5 boards every game, which ranks them 10th and 124th in college hoops.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Houston

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