The lone ranked team in action on Monday around college basketball is No. 14 Houston from the Big 12 as the Cougars welcome a dangerous TCU team.
UH is a solid favorite on the NCAAB odds for the nationally televised matchup.
Opening Spread/Totals Subject to Change: Houston -18.5 (total 128.5) Expert Prediction: Houston 70, TCU 60 |
How to Bet TCU at Houston NCAAB Odds & TV Info
NCAAB Moneylines: Houston -5000 / TCU +1341
When: Monday, 9 PM ET
Where: Fertitta Center
TV: ESPN2
Stream: ESPN+
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TCU Basketball Analysis
TCU (8-5, 1-1 Big 12) comes off a 63-62 win over visiting Kansas State on Saturday. The Wildcats led 62-56 after a 3-pointer by Max Jones with 3:14 to play before TCU rallied to remain unbeaten at home. KSU took the 6-point lead after getting a jumper from Dug McDaniel and layups from Macaleab Rich and David N’Guessan during a 9-4 run while holding a narrow 53-52 lead.
Brendan Wenzel
Following a tip-in by Vasean Allette after an offensive rebound, Wenzel knocked down a 3-pointer to pull the Horned Frogs to within 62-61 with 1:17 to play. It was Wenzel’s first appearance after missing the last 3 games due to injury. Both teams came up empty on the next two possessions before N’Guessan was fouled after grabbing his career-best 17th rebound of the game with 24 seconds. However, he couldn’t convert on the 1-on-1 free throw opportunity, as Wenzel secured the rebound and fed it to TCU’s Noah Reynolds, who converted on a layup with 12 seconds to go. KSU still had a shot, but McDaniel’s layup was off the mark as the horn sounded.
Jamie Dixon
“Down the stretch, we did what we needed to do,” TCU head coach Dixon said. It wasn’t the perfect game for us. We changed some defenses down the stretch finally, and I think that was the key for us to get some stops.”
Noah Reynolds
Reynolds led the team in scoring for the fourth time this season with 18 points, 12 of which came in the second half. With his first bucket of the game, Reynolds eclipsed 1,000 career points. His previous stops were Green Bay and Wyoming. Ernest Udeh Jr led the team in rebounding with 12 and assists with four. It was his fifth game this season to lead in rebounding and first leading in assists. Udeh’s rebounding average of 8.9 ranks third in the Big 12. He is one of four players in the Big 12 averaging at least 8.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.
21 did a little more than something pic.twitter.com/loX7UfGf4G
— TCU Men's Basketball (@TCUBasketball) January 4, 2025
The Turnovers
TCU had six, its fewest since five in the opening game of the season. The Frogs have had four games with eight or fewer turnovers this season. Despite the victory, TCU’s rebounding struggles were evident as they were outworked on the glass 47-36. However, the Horned Frogs’ defense were able to limit the Wildcats to just 13 second-chance points and 39.1% shooting overall.
“I don’t know that I’ve ever went in with getting out rebounded by this kind of margin,” Dixon said. “We’ve got to get this fixed. We thought we spent all week with it. And obviously, with Houston, we have a great rebounding team and going to play against them.”
Dixon is four wins away from 500 as a head coach. His 167 wins at TCU rank second all-time. TCU is 0-2 on the road this season, with losses at Michigan and Arizona. TCU went 6-5 in away games last season, the first time in 25 years the Frogs finished over .500 on the road. Of TCU’s 38 wins over AP Top 25 teams in its history, 23 have come under Dixon. Of TCU’s six road wins against AP Top 25 teams in its history, five have occurred in the past five seasons.
The Rankings
TCU, which led the nation in fast break scoring the past two seasons, ranks second in the Big 12 and 39th nationally with 14.7 per game. TCU ranks second in the Big 12 and 13th nationally in 3-point defense, allowing 27.7 percent from three. TCU ranks fifth in the Big 12 and 48th nationally in turnover margin at 3.2.
^TCU at Houston NCAAB Odds provided by MyBookie
Houston Basketball Analysis
Houston (10-3, 2-0 Big 12) blasted a good BYU team on Saturday, 86-55 for a sixth straight win. Trouble with turnovers and rebounding proved the game-changer in Houston’s favor, with 10 first-half BYU turnovers turning into 17 points for UH. For the game, Houston turned BYU over 15 times, resulting in 24 points, including a 13-4 advantage in the fast break.
Today's @UHCougarMBK win is the 2nd-biggest in series history against BYU
— Houston Athletics Communications (@UHCougarPR) January 4, 2025
Trails only 102-69 win in Houston on Dec. 16, 1967#ForTheCity x #GoCoogs
UH controlled the glass with a 37-24 rebounding differential over BYU. Houston’s 15-7 command of the offensive glass and 18-7 lead in second-chance points also proved costly for BYU. Houston finished the game shooting 49-percent from the field to BYU’s 38. Sixteen UH 3-pointers on 34 attempts outdid BYU’s 8-of-24.
Emanuel Sharp
Guard Sharp had 18 points and fellow guard Terrance Arceneaux scored 15 to lead UH, which made a season high 16 three-pointers. Sharp had been battling a foot injury earlier in the week. He played 22 minutes and scored just 2 points in the Cougars’ Big 12 opener last Monday, a win at Oklahoma State.
J’Wan Roberts
Graduate forward Roberts posted six points on Saturday and now has 985 points during his award-winning career. He needs only 15 more points to become the 52nd member of Houston’s 1,000-Point Club. The Cougars won their 30th consecutive home game for the nation’s longest active streak and collected their 15th straight conference home victory.
Kelvin Sampson
“This is always going to be a defense first and rebound program, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t trying to score points,” Coach Sampson said. “Some nights we don’t score because the ball doesn’t go in. Offensively, you’re just as good as the shots that go in. “(Saturday), we didn’t play 86-point basketball; if we would’ve scored 76 points, then I would’ve been just as happy. I don’t care how many points we score, as long as we win. That’s what’s most important.”
Scoring Leaders
Cryer and Sharp rank among the Big 12’s scoring leaders with 14.6 and 14.7 points per game, respectively. That duo also stands among the league’s Top-10 leaders in both 3-point field goals per game (Cryer, 2.9, t-4th; Sharp 2.5, t-10th) and 3-point field goal percentage (Sharp 47.6, 3rd; Cryer 42.2, 6th).
Top-10 leaders
Houston joins Utah as the only schools with two Top-10 leaders in both categories. Point guard Milos Uzan is second in the Big 12 with a 3.53 assist-turnover ratio, while sophomore forward Joseph Tugler is third with 2.5 blocked shots per contest. The Cougars rank No. 1 nationally in scoring defense (54.6) and field goal percentage defense (33.7) and No. 3 in KenPom’s defensive efficiency (87.2). Houston is one of the top 3-point shooting teams, with a percentage of 54.6 from deep.
^TCU vs Houston Series History
Houston is 49-26 all-time vs. TCU, including a 26-7 edge in Houston. The Frogs have won three of the past five meetings, including last year’s game in Fort Worth, 68-67, when the Cougars were ranked No. 2. The Cougars won the last meeting, 60-45, in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Championship. TCU won in its last game at Houston, 81-80, on Nov. 26, 2011.
^As we head into conference play, here's an aggregate look at how the @B1GMBBall is stacking up based on the key analytic sites👀 pic.twitter.com/68yHiC2JJ5
— Double BB🌟 (@BBsBigHouse1) January 3, 2025
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