Texas Tech Red Raiders vs UCF Knights Prediction, 1/31/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Texas Tech Red Raiders vs UCF Knights

Date: Saturday, January 31, 2026

Location: Addition Financial Arena in Orlando, FL

TV: ESPN2

The UCF Knights (16-4) will play the Texas Tech Red Raiders (16-4) at Addition Financial Arena on Saturday.

The Texas Tech Red Raiders took the court against Houston and took home the win by a score of 90-86 in their last game. In the matter of personal fouls, the Red Raiders walked away with 15 while Houston racked up 25 personal fouls. They also knocked down 11 of their 28 attempts from distance. Houston finished shooting 81.0% from the charity stripe by making 17 of 21 shots. Moreover, Houston snagged 25 rebounds (9 offensive, 16 defensive), but didn't have a block. Houston doled out 9 dimes and had 5 steals in the game. Regarding defending, Texas Tech allowed their opponent to shoot 48.3% from the floor on 29 of 60 shooting. They also doled out 16 assists in the matchup in addition to forcing the opposition into 6 turnovers and getting 1 steal. With respect to pulling down rebounds, they collected 41 with 18 of them being offensive. From the free throw line, the Red Raiders converted 24 of their 30 tries for a percentage of 80.0%. Texas Tech finished the game having earned a 43.5% FG percentage (27 of 62) and made 12 of their 29 shots from downtown.

JT Toppin is a player who was a major factor in the game. He walked away with 31 points on 12 of 24 shooting. He was on the court for 40 minutes and also grabbed 12 rebounds. He finished the contest at 50.0% from the field and also dished out 3 assists.

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Texas Tech enters this contest with a mark of 16-4 so far this season. They turn the ball over 10.4 times per contest and as a team are committing 16.3 fouls on a nightly basis. As a team, Texas Tech is snagging 38.3 rebounds per game and has tallied 324 dimes for the campaign, which has them ranked 106th in D-1 in terms of passing the rock. The Red Raiders are hitting 39.2% on 3-pointers (228 of 582) and 71.0% from the charity stripe. They are averaging 84.2 points per contest (46th in college hoops) while connecting on 47.1% from the field.

On the defensive end, the Red Raiders are forcing 10.9 turnovers per contest while drawing 17.3 fouls. They are 14th in college in giving up assists with 216 conceded this year. The Red Raiders defense is allowing an opponent FG percentage of 44.3% (534 of 1,205) and they surrender 34.1 boards per game as a group. They give up 32.4% on shots from beyond the perimeter while they are 188th in the nation in PPG from their opponents (73.8).

For their last game, the UCF Knights went home victorious with a score of 79-76 when they faced Arizona State. The Knights were able to pull down 25 defensive boards and 13 offensive boards totaling 38 for the contest. They gave up possession of the ball 9 times, while getting 7 steals for this game. Arizona State earned 18 personal fouls in the game which took the Knights to the charity stripe for 19 attempts. They were able to bury 14 of the free throw tries for a percentage of 73.7%. With regard to three-point attempts, UCF made 7 out of 22 attempts (31.8%). In all, the Knights ended up shooting 29 out of 65 from the field which gave them a percentage of 44.6%. The Knights permitted Arizona State to convert 26 of 55 tries from the field which gave them a percentage of 47.3% for this contest. They wrapped up this game 43.5% from distance by connecting on 10 out of 23 and ended up going 14 out of 20 at the free throw line (70.0%). When talking about attacking the glass, UCF permitted Arizona State to get 26 in all (5 offensive).

Riley Kugel was important for the Knights for this contest. He had 17 points in his 35 minutes of playing time and had 5 dimes for the matchup. He buried 6 of 10 in this game for a field goal percentage of 60.0%, and accumulated 9 rebounds.

UCF has a win-loss mark of 16-4 this season. The Knights are responsible for committing 17.9 personal fouls every game and they connect on 73.1% from the charity stripe. Their rate of earning assists is at 16.6 times per game (55th in the nation) and they turn it over 11.9 times per game. UCF has accumulated 1,680 points on the campaign (84.0 per contest) and they grab 38.5 rebounds per game. When it comes to offense, the Knights are hitting on 48.2% from the field, which ranks them 47th in the country.

The Knights on the defensive end are ranked 269th in college in points allowed per contest with 77.0. They are able to force 11.8 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 44.7% from the field (234th in college). The UCF defense concedes 33.7% on shots from beyond the perimeter (164 of 486) and opponents are knocking down 73.8% of their foul shots. They have allowed 14.2 assists and 31.6 rebounds every game, which is ranked 251st and 40th in college hoops.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Texas Tech

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