NCAA betting Houston vs Texas Tech Odds & MyBookie Insights

In-state bragging rights and possibly the Big 12 regular-season title are on the line in the second game of an ESPN Big Monday doubleheader as No. 5 Houston visits No. 9 Texas Tech, with the Cougars favored on the NCAA betting odds – TTU may be without a key injured player for a second straight game.

Houston (23-4, 15-1 Big 12) can’t clinch the Big 12 championship with a victory but for all intents and purposes can as it has a three-game lead over second-place Texas Tech (21-6, 12-4 Big 12) and Arizona (18-9, 12-4 Big 12) in league play. Including this one, the Cougars only have four regular-season games left, so it’s over. They won the Big 12 last season as well in their first season in the league.

Opening Spread/Totals Subject to Change: Houston -2 (total 132.5)
Expert Prediction: Houston 68, Texas Tech 65

Houston vs Texas Tech NCAA Betting & TV Info

NCAAB Moneylines: Houston -137 / Texas Tech +112
When: Monday, 9 PM ET
Where: United Supermarkets Arena, Lubbock
TV: ESPN
Stream: ESPN+

Coach Kelvin Sampson’s club is also trying to earn a No. 1 seed in the Big Dance. UH is currently listed as a No. 2 by ESPN in the South Region (where Auburn is the No. 1) and facing No. 15 Montana in Round 1. Texas Tech will be Dancing again and is listed as a No. 3 seed in the East and opening vs. No. 14 Towson.

Last Meeting

These teams played a great game on Feb. 1 in Houston when the Cougars were 9.5-point home favorites and ranked No. 6 in the nation and upset by No. 22 Texas Tech, 82-81. Chance McMillian had 23 points, including two free throws with 16 seconds left in overtime, to lead the Red Raiders. Darrion Williams hit a 3-pointer to tie it at 72 with 30 seconds left in regulation. Houston’s J’Wan Roberts took a shot at the buzzer, but it was blocked by Federiko. It was the Cougars’ first loss at home since Jan. 22, 2023, against Temple, a 33-game streak.

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Cougars Haven’t Lost Since First Meeting

No. 5 Houston is unbeaten since that first Texas Tech loss and likely moves up in the new AP poll on Monday after an impressive 68-59 home win over No. 8 Iowa State on Saturday. The Cyclones were without their top two scorers in Curtis Jones and Keshon Gilbert. Despite the adversity, the ISU rallied from down as many 16 to within one point and were within reach until the final four minutes of the contest.

However, every time ISU was threatening, Houston’s L.J. Cryer had the answer. The graduate guard scored a game-high 28 points, including 5-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc, making big shot after big shot. Junior guard Milos Uzan added 19 points — Cryer and Uzan combined to shoot 18 of 27, including 8 of 12 on 3-pointers. Emanuel Sharp added 11 points for Houston.

Houston’s defense forced 12 turnovers that led to 16 points. UH leads the Big 12 in the lowest number of turnovers per game, but Iowa State forced 17 Cougar turnovers. The UH offense picked up the slack by shooting 53% overall and going 10 of 17 from distance, while Iowa State shot 39%, including 8 of 20 behind the arc.

“The one stat we usually … I wouldn’t say dominated in, but it is a huge emphasis for us is possessions,” UH coach Kelvin Sampson said. “We had 47 possessions, they had 46. When normally anywhere from plus 10-15, we finish as much as plus 20. The reason why the possessions were so close today was. We lead the Big 12 in the fewest amount of turnovers today, we had 17. Their traps bothered us. We didn’t do a very good job of getting to our spots. But we are 15-1.”

787 wins

Now 17th in NCAA history

CONGRATS, @CoachSampsonUH!#ForTheCity x #GoCoogs pic.twitter.com/ZU0oKBaYNN
— Houston Men's Hoops 🏀 🐾 (@UHCougarMBK) February 22, 2025

Will Chance McMillian Play For TTU?

No. 9 Texas Tech was an easy 73-51 home winner against West Virginia on Saturday. Tech fell behind 24-15 when missing 18 of its first 23 shots before ending the first half with a 15-3 run to go ahead to stay. Red Raiders freshman Christian Anderson had a season-high 21 points with five 3-pointers in his first career start. He got the start in place of Chance McMillian, the Big 12’s top 3-point shooter, who was out after rolling his right ankle late in the Red Raiders’ loss at TCU last Tuesday night. McMillian is iffy for Monday. Anderson finished 5-for-8 from 3-point range, while WVU was 6-for-27 on 3s in the game.

JT Toppin was two rebounds shy of his fifth straight double-double, finishing the game with eight rebounds to go along with his 22 points on 9-for-16 shooting. Toppin is now leading the Red Raiders with 17.3 points and 9.1 rebounds per game after his 10th game with 20 or more points.

McMillian had started the previous 26 games and is averaging 15.1 points per game and leads Tech and the Big 12 by shooting 45.4 percent on 3-pointers. Tech finished off WVU in a game where it went 9-for-22 on 3-pointers, by shooting 46.4 percent from the field and owning a 41-31 rebounding advantage.

Nothing like a home win 🫶 pic.twitter.com/ChSslgmzjS
— Texas Tech Basketball (@TexasTechMBB) February 24, 2025

Grant McCasland

“Over the course of the game in the second half, we came out with the fight we needed,” Texas Tech coach McCasland said. “We fought. This time of year is about when it gets difficult, do you like being in the ring. It’s real. There has to be a relentless approach. West Virginia is one of those teams that will fight you, and I thought our grit to play in the second half showed what you have to be like this time of year.”

Houston at Texas Tech NCAA betting Prediction

Cryer leads the Cougars with 14.5 points per game and stands among the Big 12 leaders in 3-point field goals per game (2.9, 3rd) and 3-point field goal percentage (1st, 40.8). Uzan leads the Cougars and the Big 12 and ranks second nationally with a 4.38 assist-turnover ratio.

Houston is one of only three schools to rank among the KenPom.com Top 10 national leaders in both offensive (125.2, 7th) and defensive efficiencies (90.1, 3rd) through games of Feb. 19. Duke (127.4 off., 2nd, 90.9, 4th) and Florida (126.7 off, 4th; 93.0 def., 8th) join the Cougars in that group.

Texas Tech has matched the best start to Big 12 play in program history, with the 2019 and 2022 teams also being 12-4 through 16 games. The Red Raiders lead the Big 12 with a 1.58 assist-to-turnover ratio and are second in the conference in field goal percentage (48.2%), effective field goal (56.3%), scoring margin (14.9), scoring offense (81.4), 3-point percentage (38.4%), and with 9.8 3-pointers made per game.

The Red Raiders’ Toppin is the reigning AP National Player of the Week, Big 12 Player and Newcomer of the Week and has provided 26.0 points and 11.8 rebounds in the last five games. Tech’s highest AP ranking in program history came at No. 6 in February 2018 and TTU could surpass that with a win here in the next AP Top 25.

Houston vs Texas Tech Series History

This is the 60th all-time meeting between these schools. The Cougars lead 31-28 and will be playing in Lubbock for the first time in over 20 years, with Tech earning a 62-48 win on January 1, 2003, in the last matchup at the USA. Tech’s overtime victory earlier this month snapped a four-game losing streak to UH in the series and is the only conference loss on Houston’s resume this season.

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