College Basketball Betting: Houston vs. UTEP Predictions: January 14th 2009

Houston vs. UTEP January 14th, 2009 9:05PM

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Under Tom Penders, the Houston Cougars are all about running and gunning, pushing the pace and scoring at will against poor defensive foes. But the Cougars have a very, very sharp home/road dichotomy when it comes to shooting the basketball, not atypical for a team that lost four of their five starters from last year’s 24-win team, relying heavily on youth here in 2009.

The numbers don’t lie.

Houston has played three previous road games, against Middle Tennessee, Toledo, and Mississippi State. They struggled offensively in all three ballgames, scoring 10 points per game less than their season average while shooting a woeful 37 percent from the floor in those contests.

That’s very bad news against a UTEP squad that has been stellar on the defensive end of the court, both from inside and outside the arc.

There are two central questions for any team when they face Houston. First, can they handle the basketball against the Cougars pressure? And second, are they strong enough in the paint to prevent easy drive and dish opportunities while dominating the glass?

The answers here are “yes” and “yes.”

The Miners are loaded with frontcourt size and depth, and at home, they’ve got a very strong 1.45 assist-to-turnover ratio, which bodes well for their chances as a short home favorite tonight. (No. 796) 2* Take UTEP.

Courtesy of Ted Sevransky