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Neither No. 15 Texas nor No. 16 Oklahoma can win the Big 12 regular-season title, but they are playing for a better seed in the conference tournament on Thursday in Norman. The Sooners are short favorites on the NCAAB odds. They are +5000 to win the national title with the Horns at +3300.

How to Bet Texas at Oklahoma NCAA Basketball Odds & TV Info

When: Thursday, 9 PM ET
Where: Lloyd Noble Center
TV: ESPN
Stream: ESPN app
Radio:com
Opening NCAAB Lines: Oklahoma -2

Last Meeting

On Jan. 26, the Sooners won at Texas 80-79 when the Horns were missing some key guys due to COVID, including Coach Shaka Smart. Austin Reaves scored 23 points and made two free throws with 18.3 seconds left that proved to be the difference. Before his late free throws, Reaves had a key three-point play with a drive and layup that drew a fifth foul on Texas forward Greg Brown.

Why Bet on Texas? | 2021 NCAA Basketball Expert Analysis

Texas (15-7) was an 81-67 winner at Iowa State on Tuesday. The Horns led by 10 at the half. The Texas lead was trimmed to eight on multiple occasions after the intermission, but UT found a way to wrestle back momentum each time. A Jalen Coleman-Lands triple, followed by a dunk for George Conditt made the score 63-55 with 6:55 to play. However, that was as close as the Cyclones would get, with Texas staving off a late ISU rally.

Sophomore forward Kai Jones registered a season-high 17 points to lead the Horns, adding a career-high three blocked shots and converting a career-best 9-of-10 free throws in 27 minutes. Junior guard Courtney Ramey recorded 14 points (2-4 threes, 6-6 FT), a season-high seven rebounds and four assists in 34 minutes.

Freshman forward Greg Brown posted 12 points (5-5 FT) in 27 minutes, and senior guard Matt Coleman III added 12 points (5-7 FG, 2-4 threes) and five assists in 34 minutes. Coleman reached double figures in scoring (12 points) for the 18th time this year (22 games) and 73rd time in his career (123 games). Coleman also is on pace to become the first player in program history to lead the team in assists four consecutive years.

Texas converted 51.0-percent from the floor, including a 9-of-20 (.450) mark from three-point, and a season-best 87.0-percent (20-23) from the free throw line. The Longhorns went a perfect 11-of-11 from the free throw line in the second half. Texas registered a 28-14 advantage in bench scoring and a 12-6 margin in second-chance points.

The Longhorns improved to 7-2 in games away from Austin this year (4-2 in true road games, 3-0 in neutral-site contests). The Longhorns are completing the regular season with a four-game road trip.

Why Bet on Oklahoma? | 2021 NCAA Basketball Expert Analysis

The Sooners lost in overtime at home to rival Oklahoma State on Saturday and then lost 79-75 at the No. 17 Cowboys on Monday for OU’s third straight defeat overall – that’s a season high. On Monday, OSU freshman sensation— Cade Cunningham scored 13 of his 15 points in the final 10 minutes to complete the sweep.

Oklahoma led 36-35 at halftime behind Brady Manek’s 16 points. Cunningham had two points, no field goals and just two shot attempts in the first half. Manek finished with 20 points and Austin Reaves 19 for the Sooners, who not long ago were ranked No. 7 in the nation. Reaves had scored at least 20 points in four straight game and averaged 22.2 points, 6.8 rebounds and 5.0 assists during the month of February.

Sooners were alone in second place in the Big 12 with a look toward elevating potentially as high as a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Now, OU might finish seventh in the Big 12. It will take either a Sooners win over Texas on Thursday at home or a Texas Tech loss to either TCU, Iowa State or Baylor this week to assure OU a top-six spot and a bye into next Thursday’s Big 12 quarterfinals.

Oklahoma has five wins over top-15 teams this season, tied with Ohio State for the most in the country. The Sooners were picked to finish sixth in the Big 12 Preseason Poll and did not make an appearance in the AP Top-25 until Jan. 25. The Sooners are 9-1 when scoring at least 78 points. OU is averaging 80.4 points per game in victories and 69.4 in losses. Oklahoma is committing only 10.9 turnovers per game – the fewest in the Big 12 and 22nd best in Division I.