Incarnate Word vs Houston Baptist 1/8/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Houston Baptist Huskies will square off against the Incarnate Word Cardinals at the Leonard E. Merrell Center in the Southland Conference Men’s Basketball Tip-Off this Saturday afternoon.

The Houston Baptist Huskies lost their 2^nd straight game and dropped to 4-8 on the season after being defeated by the New Orleans Privateers, 81-65, last night. Houston Baptist struggled on both ends of the court against New Orleans and could not fight back after going into halftime trailing by a 43-29 margin. Houston Baptist shot 36.1% from the field & 23.1% from beyond the arc while allowing New Orleans to shoot 50.9% from the field & 30.8% from beyond the arc. Leading the way for the Huskies was Darius Lee who had 18 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, & 2 steals in the 29 minutes from off the bench.

Coming into their game against New Orleans, Houston Baptist was averaging 73.5 ppg on 44.6% shooting from the field. The Huskies were averaging 7.2 three-pointers per game on 32.8% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, Houston Baptist has been led by Darius Lee (13.2 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1.4 spg), Brycen Long (10.0 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 2.1 apg, 1.3 spg), Sam Hofman (8.9 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 1.0 apg), & Zion Tordoff (6.9 ppg, 4.2 rpg).

Defensively, Houston Baptist was allowing their opponents to average 72.3 ppg on 45.0% shooting from the field. The Huskies had a rebound margin of 7.7 and a turnover margin of -1.5.

The Incarnate Word Cardinals lost their 2^nd straight game and dropped to 3-13 on the season after being defeated by the Northwestern State Demons, 83-80, last night. Incarnate Word fought back from a 46-39 halftime deficit to make it a competitive game late, however, Northwestern State was able to seal the victory after Cedric Garrett converted a game-winning three-point play with just :18 seconds left in regulation. Incarnate Word shot 47.8% from the field & 34.6% from beyond the arc while allowing Northwestern State to shoot 43.1% from the field & 37.0% from beyond the arc. Leading the way for the Cardinals was RJ Glasper who had 20 points, 6 rebounds, & 5 assists.

Coming into their game against Northwestern State, Incarnate Word was averaging 65.9 ppg on 41.5% shooting from the field. The Cardinals were averaging 8.3 three-pointers per game on 34.1% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, Incarnate Word has been led by RJ Glasper (14.7 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 2.8 apg), Josh Morgan (12.0 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.5 apg), Drew Lutz (11.7 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 4.3 apg, 1.7 spg), & Johnny Hughes III (11.3 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 1.1 apg).

Defensviely, Incarnate Word was allowing their opponents to average 77.8 ppg on 49.6% shooting from the field. The Cardinals had a rebound margin of -5.7 and a turnover margin of -2.2.

The Huskies are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 Saturday games and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 neutral site games. The Cardinals are 3-5 ATS in their last 8 overall games and 2-1 ATS in their last 3 neutral site games.  

Houston Baptist has been led by their offense which ranks 150^th in scoring offense & 165^th in scoring defense, however, the Huskies have struggled defensively as they come into this ranked just 259^th in scoring offense. Incarnate Word has struggled on both ends of the court this season as the Cardinals come into this game ranked just 296^th in scoring offense, 328^th in scoring defense, & 347^th in defensive FG%.

These two teams are evenly match, however, I must give a slight edge to Houston Baptist in this one as their offense has shown more this season overall and for the fact that I think the Huskies should have an advantage on the boards in this one. There are plenty of other games I’d rather put my money on this afternoon, however, if I was going to place a bet on this one, I’d take Houston Baptist and the point. Good Luck!