West Virginia Mountaineers vs Houston Cougars Prediction, 1/13/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: West Virginia Mountaineers vs Houston Cougars

Date: Tuesday, January 13, 2026

Location: Fertitta Center in Houston, TX

TV: FS1

The West Virginia Mountaineers (11-5) are on their way to Fertitta Center on Tuesday where they will go up against the Houston Cougars (15-1).

The West Virginia Mountaineers faced Kansas and notched a win by a score of 86-75 in their last game. West Virginia walked away from the game having earned a 48.2% field goal percentage (27 out of 56) and converted 11 of their 26 3-pointers. From the charity stripe, the Mountaineers made 21 of their 29 shots for a rate of 72.4%. In reference to grabbing rebounds, they earned a total of 34 with 8 of them being offensive. They also doled out 12 dimes in this matchup while forcing the opposition into 6 turnovers and earning 2 steals. With respect to defending, West Virginia allowed the other team to go 42.6% from the field on 26 of 61 shooting. Kansas recorded 11 dimes and had 7 steals for the contest. Furthermore, Kansas totaled 31 boards (9 offensive, 22 defensive), but didn't record a block for the team. Kansas ended up going 83.3% when shooting free throws by converting 15 of their 18 attempts. They converted 8 of their 27 tries from distance. When it comes to personal fouls, the Mountaineers ended up walking away with 16 while Kansas had 22 personal fouls.

Honor Huff is a guy who was a contributor in this contest. He recorded 23 points on 5 out of 12 shooting. He was on the court for 39 minutes and also collected 7 rebounds. He finished the game shooting 41.7% from the floor but had no dimes when the game ended.

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West Virginia heads into this game with a win-loss record of 11-5 for the year. They lose possession via turnover 10.8 times per game and as a unit are committing 14.7 fouls per game. As a team, West Virginia is grabbing 36.3 rebounds per game and is sitting with 219 dimes so far this year, which is 263rd in the country in terms of passing the ball. The Mountaineers are shooting 36.6% on shots from 3-point land (140 of 382) and 69.1% from the charity stripe. They average 74.8 points per contest (238th in Division 1) while hitting 45.5% from the floor.

Defensively, the Mountaineers are forcing 12.4 turnovers every game and they draw 17.4 fouls. They are giving up 34.8% from beyond the arc and they are ranked 6th in the country in PPG from their opponents (62.3). The Mountaineers are allowing a shooting percentage of 40.2% (352 of 875) and they surrender 32.2 boards per game as a squad. They rank 88th in college in allowing assists to the opposition with 201 surrendered on the season.

In their last game, the Houston Cougars walked away with a victory by a final of 77-55 when they faced Baylor. In the matter of how they cleaned up the glass, Houston allowed Baylor to get 30 in total (7 on the offensive glass). They finished shooting 36.8% from beyond the arc by going 7 out of 19 and walked away from this one shooting 18 of 31 at the free throw line (58.1%). The Cougars allowed Baylor to bury 15 out of 41 tries from the floor which gave them a percentage of 36.6% for the matchup. When the final whistle blew, the Cougars shot 29 for 74 from the field which gave them a percentage of 39.2%. In relation to three-point attempts, Houston buried 11 out of 39 tries (28.2%). They were able to make 8 of the free throw attempts for a clip of 61.5%. Baylor had 13 personal fouls in the matchup which took the Cougars to the charity stripe for a total of 13 shots. They coughed up the ball 4 times, while earning 7 steals for this game. The Cougars earned 21 defensive boards and 21 offensive rebounds totaling 42 for the matchup.

Emanuel Sharp was important for the Cougars for this contest. He racked up 17 points in his 30 minutes on the hardwood and had 2 assists for the contest. He buried 6 out of 14 for the matchup giving him a field goal percentage of 42.9%, and had 5 rebounds.

Houston has a record of 15-1 so far this year. The Cougars have committed 17.9 fouls per game and they go 75.6% from the free throw line. They are earning an assist 15.7 times per contest (103rd in the country) and they are losing possession via turnover 8.7 times per contest. Houston has totaled 1,236 pts so far this year (77.3 per contest) and they collect 38.3 rebounds per game. As an offensive team, the Cougars are connecting on 44.3% from the floor, which ranks 248th in Division 1.

The Cougars on the defensive side of the court are 2nd in college in points given up per game with 60.0. They are forcing their opponents into 15.5 turnovers on a nightly basis and allow teams to shoot 39.1% from the floor (23rd in D-1). The Houston defense gives up 29.7% on shots from distance (104 of 350) and their opposition makes 66.7% of their shots from the free throw line. They relinquish 10.1 dimes and 33.6 rebounds on a nightly basis, which is 11th and 130th in those defensive categories.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Houston

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