BYU Cougars (14-3) vs. Texas Tech Red Raiders (14-3)
January 20, 2024 6:00 pm EDT
The Line: Texas Tech Red Raiders -1.5; Over/Under: 145.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The BYU Cougars and the Texas Tech Red Raiders meet Saturday in college basketball action from United Supermarkets Arena. BYU is currently 14-3 on the year. The Cougars took out Iowa State in their latest matchup on Tuesday. As for Texas Tech, they’re fresh off a Wednesday meeting with Houston. In that one the Raiders fell to 14-3 as well with a blowout loss. Let’s get into our BYU vs. Texas Tech prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
BYU Cougars
The Cougars managed only one loss in their first 13 games (Utah), otherwise taking out Houston Christian, San Diego State, Southeastern LA, Morgan State, Arizona State, NC State, Fresno State, Evansville, Denver, Georgia State, Bellarmine and Wyoming. It’s been a 2-2 run since then with losses to Cincinnati and Baylor.
On Tuesday versus Iowa State, the Cougars were able to add another notch to the win column. After a 39-35 run in the first half, BYU kept it going with a 48-37 advantage from there in an 87-72 outcome. Leading scorer Spencer Johnson finished on 28 points with nine rebounds and five assists.
Texas Tech Red Raiders
Over on the Texas Tech side, they lost only two of their first seven games to Villanova and Butler. The Raiders would then beat Omaha, Oral Roberts, Vanderbilt, TX-Arlington, Sam Houston, North Alabama, Texas, Oklahoma State and Kansas State over the next nine outings.
In their game versus Houston on Wednesday, Texas Tech was overmatched on the road. The Raiders were down 38-29 by the break and got outscored 39-25 from there in a 77-54 result. Kerwin Walton was the team’s leading scorer on his 18 points and three rebounds in the losing effort.
ANDREW’S FREE BYU VS TEXAS TECH PREDICTION
I’ll take a stab on BYU here. You could make a case either way pretty easily, though; it’ll be a good matchup. The Cougars beat a good Iowa State team in their last outing, shooting 47.4 percent from the field with 20-of-24 (83.3 percent) from the line and 36 rebounds. BYU held the Cyclones to just 4-of-14 from 3-point range (28.6 percent), but Iowa State’s 64 percent from the line didn’t hurt either. The Cougars have hit 72 or more points in six of their last eight games, and they’ll probably have to score quite well in order to cover here.
As for Texas Tech, they were overwhelmed by a great Houston team in their last outing. The Raiders should match up much better in this one, though. Texas Tech has scored just 114 points over the last two games combined, so they’re going to need to turn on the offense in this one. I like a close game with an eventual BYU cover/win. Should be a fun one.
