Virginia vs Houston 12/17/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Houston Cougars and the Virginia Cavaliers meet in college basketball action from the John Paul Jones Arena on Saturday afternoon.

The Houston Cougars will be out to build on a 74-46 win over North Carolina A&T last time out. Marcus Sasser leads the Cougars in scoring with 16.2 PPG along with 2.6 APG as the lone double-digit scorer for Houston up to this point in the year. Jarace Walker has 9.4 PPG with 6.5 RPG and J’Wan Roberts has a team-high 7.1 RPG to lead Houston on the glass. Jamal Shead also has a team-high 5.7 APG to lead the Cougars in the assist department. As a team, Houston is averaging 73.9 PPG on 46.3% shooting from the field, 32.9% from three and 69.2% from the foul line this season.

The Virginia Cavaliers will try to remain unbeaten, sitting at 8-0 after a 55-50 win over James Madison last time out. Kihei Clark leads the Cavaliers in scoring and assists with 11.6 PPG and 5 APG while Jayden Gardner has 11.6 PPG with a team-high 6.4 RPG to lead the Cavaliers on the glass up to this point in the season. Armaan Franklin has 11 PPG with 3.6 RPG and Reece Beekman has 10 PPG to cap off the scoring in double figures for Virginia so far this year. As a team, Virginia is averaging 72.1 PPG on 47.2% shooting from the field, 39.6% from three and 70.8% from the foul line this season.

Houston is 17-6 ATS in their last 23 games overall and 42-12-1 ATS in their last 55 games following an ATS loss while the under is 19-6-1 in their last 26 games overall. Virginia is 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games overall and 2-7-1 ATS in their last 10 home games while the under is 4-1 in their last 5 games overall.

I kept finding myself trying to make a case for the over as this is a rock bottom total, but I simply can’t. The Cougars are elite defensively, allowing just 38.4% from 2-point range and a measly 23.7% from three this season while Virginia’s solid defensively in their own right, play slow, and Houston doesn’t shoot the 3 well enough to expose the one glaring weakness of this Virginia defense. I think this could end up being a first to 50 wins kind of game, so I lean towards the under in what should be a fascinating matchup.