UTRGV vs Houston Christian 12/18/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Houston Christian Huskies and the Texas-Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros meet Sunday in college basketball action from South Padre Island Convention Center. Houston Christian is 3-8 overall this year. As for UTRGV, they’re 7-4 on the season. These teams met up last weekend, with the Vaqueros posting a 13-point win. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

Houston Christian went just 1-7 over their first eight games, losing to FIU, Texas, Western Michigan, GA Southern, Rice, Missouri and Denver. The Huskies got wins over SW Adventist and UMFK in the next pair. 

Last weekend versus UTRGV, the Huskies went back into the loss column. Houston Christian was outscored 53-36 in the first half and limped to a 95-82 defeat. Brycen Long led the team on 26 points in 40 minutes of work. 

Over on the UTRGV side, they went 2-2 over their first four games then hit wins over Western Illinois and Northern Arizona. The Vaqueros are 3-2 since then with wins over Texas A&M-CC, Houston Christian and Southwestern Christian. 

In the Thursday game versus Southwestern Christian, UTRGV took a 48-35 edge into the second half. The Vaqueros hit a 58-45 run in the second for a 106-80 win. Justin Johnson doubled up on 31 points and 11 rebounds. 

PICK: I’ll probably stay with UTRGV here. The interesting thing about this matchup is that we’ve got a game from last weekend at Sharp Gymnasium to draw from. The Vaqueros didn’t have a ton of issues in that one, shooting 55.2 percent from the floor with a 44-28 rebounding advantage (14-8 offensive). Houston Christian got better in the second half of that matchup but really couldn’t find their way early. This one might be a little closer but it still looks like UTRGV’s cover.