The Houston Cougars and the Oregon Ducks meet Sunday in college basketball action from Matthew Knight Arena. Houston is 4-0 on the season so far. The Cougars beat Texas Southern in their last outing. As for Oregon, they’re currently 2-1 and coming off a win versus Montana State. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Houston didn’t have any trouble with Northern Colorado in their season opener, cruising to an 83-36 victory. After an 81-55 blowout win over Saint Joseph’s in game two, Houston kept it going with an 83-45 win over Oral Roberts.
In the Texas Southern game back on Wednesday, Houston jumped out to a 43-20 lead by halftime. The Cougars scored 40 more points in the second half for an 83-48 win. Marcus Sasser led the team on 20 points with six assists and five boards.
Over on the Oregon side, their first matchup of the season was against Florida A&M. The Ducks had an 11-point lead by halftime and won 80-45. Game two versus UC Irvine was the Ducks’ first loss however, a 69-56 affair.
In Tuesday’s matchup against Montana State, the Ducks had a 34-22 edge by the break. Oregon scored another 47 points in the second for an 81-51 win. Kel’el Ware topped the team with 16 points and seven boards.
PICK: I’m going to stick with Houston. The Cougars have been quite impressive so far this year; that said Houston hasn’t really faced any teams of consequence yet. The Cougars posted 51.7 percent shooting and 19 assists in the win over Texas Southern and didn’t have much trouble in the blowout win. As for Oregon, they recovered well in their last game following the UC Irvine loss. It’s going to be tough for the Ducks to keep the pace in this one if Houston gets going early, though.