Central Florida vs Houston 1/29/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds
Houston Cougars (17-2) vs. Central Florida Knights (12-6)
January 29, 2022 8:00 pm EDT
The Line: Central Florida Knights +6 / Houston Cougars -6; Over/Under: +139
(Get latest betting odds)
The Houston Cougars and the UCF Knights meet in college basketball action from Addition Financial Arena on Saturday night.
The Houston Cougars will look to build on their 79-38 rout of East Carolina in their last game. Kyler Edwards leads the Cougars in scoring with 14.4 PPG as well as in rebounding with 5.9 RPG while Josh Carlton has 11.8 PPG with 5.9 RPG and Fabian White Jr. has 11 PPG with 5.6 RPG to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for Houston coming into this game. As a team, Houston is averaging 77.7 PPG on 46.9% shooting from the field, 35.5% from three and 66.4% from the foul line while allowing 56.6 PPG on 36.4% shooting from the field and 28.9% from three this season.
The UCF Knights will look to bounce back from an 84-79 loss at the hands of Wichita State last time out. Darin Green Jr. leads the Knights in scoring with 13.3 PPG while Darius Perry has 11.1 PPG with 3.7 RPG and a team-high 4.7 APG to lead the Knights in assists. Brandon Mahan also has 10.6 PPG to cap off the trio of double-digit scorers for UCF. C.J. Walker has 8.6 PPG with a team-high 6 RPG to lead UCF on the boards and Cheikh Mbacke Diong also has 5.7 RPG this season. As a team, UCF is averaging 72.6 PPG on 44.2% shooting from the field, 35.7% from three and 74.7% from the foul line while allowing 67.7 PPG on 42% shooting from the field and 30% from three this season.
Houston is 6-2 ATS in their last 8 games following a win and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games following a win by 20 or more points while the over is 8-2-1 in their last 11 games against a team with a winning record. UCF is 9-3 ATS in their last 12 games following an ATS loss and 0-4 ATS in their last 4 Saturday games while the over is 8-2 in their last 10 games against a team with a winning record.
I get why Houston’s favored on the road here, but the issue I’m facing is that the Cougars’ recent dominance has all come at home for the most part and the Cougars have had a couple of close calls on the road against Tulsa and Temple. I think Houston will be up for UCF and the Knights will return the favor and give Houston a battle. Give me the Knights and the points as UCF’s been a much stronger team at home as of late.
