Houston vs Rice College Basketball Picks, Odds, Predictions 11/12/2021

The Rice Owls and the Houston Cougars meet Friday in college basketball action from Hofheinz Pavilion. Rice managed a win in their opener this week, taking out Pepperdine by 19 points. As for the Cougars, they posted a win over Hofstra in their first game on Tuesday. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place. 

Rice managed to go 15-13 overall last season with a 6-10 mark in Conference USA play. The Owls would finish just one spot out of the division basement with that effort. Rice managed to beat Southern Miss and Marshall before falling to UAB in the conference tournament. 

In their 2021-22 opener, Rice put up an 82-63 win over Pepperdine. The Owls outscored the Waves 46-28 in the second half on the way to the victory. Top team scorer was Travis Evee with 24 points, and Max Fielder hauled in 13 rebounds with nine points of his own. 

Over on the Cougars’ side, they had a successful season last year, going 28-4 overall and 14-3 in the AAC. Houston plowed through the conference tournament for a championship, then beat Cleveland State, Rutgers, Syracuse and Oregon State on the way to the Final Four. 

Houston had a scare versus Hofstra in their opener, and it took overtime to bag an 83-75 win. The Cougars were down 37-31 at halftime but were able to pull it out. Marcus Sasser led the team with 25 points, and Kyler Edwards doubled up on 10 points and 11 rebounds. 

Houston is 1-4 ATS in their last five overall and 11-5 in their last 16 at home. The Cougars are 34-16-1 ATS in their last 51 after an ATS loss. 

Meanwhile, the Owls are 1-4 ATS in their last five road games and 7-3 ATS in their last 10 Friday games. Rice is 5-1-1 ATS in their last seven after a straight-up win. 

PICK: I’m going to try Rice in this one. The Owls managed a pretty solid all-around effort in their opener win, shooting 49.2 percent from the field, hauling in 43 rebounds and collecting 21 team assists. Rice coughed up 14 turnovers, but made up for it with 12 steals during the victory. 

As for Houston, they had trouble fending off a plucky Hofstra team in their opener but still came up with 44.6 percent from the field and 49 rebounds. It just took the Cougars a while to get going. Things should go more smoothly this time around but I still think the Owls can get in there.