Texas Tech vs Houston Prediction 1/24/26 College Basketball Picks Today

The Houston Cougars and the Texas Tech Red Raiders meet Saturday in college basketball action from United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock. Here’s a Texas Tech vs Houston prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Texas Tech vs Houston pick.

Houston Cougars Betting Preview

The Cougars got off to a nice start this year, notching wins in each of their first six games. After a loss to Tennessee, Houston has since beaten Notre Dame, Florida State, Jackson State, New Orleans, Arkansas, Middle Tennessee, Cincinnati, Teas Tech, Baylor, West Virginia and Arizona State in succession. Over the first 18 games of the season so far, that gives the Cougars a nice 17-1 overall record in the books.

On Sunday versus Arizona State, the Cougars entered the second half with a dominant 56-29 advantage. Houston didn’t let the Sun Devils get any closer than that, cruising on a 47-44 run the rest of the way toward a blowout home win 103-73 in the end. Kingston Flemings led the way with 20 points, eight assists and four rebounds. Chris Cenac added 18 points with eight rebounds and five assists as well.

Texas Tech Red Raiders Betting Preview

Over on the Texas Tech side, they managed a reasonable 7-3 record across their first 10 games with losses to Illinois, Purdue and Arkansas mixed in. The Raiders are 8-1 since then, taking wins over Northern Colorado, Duke, Winthrop, Oklahoma State, Colorado, Utah, BYU and Baylor in that time (with a loss to Houston). Over 19 games that makes for a 15-4 record for the Red Raiders this year.

In the Baylor matchup on Tuesday the Raiders were in the locker room looking up at a 55-36 edge on the scoreboard. Texas Tech posted a 37-37 run the rest of the way, keeping the pace on the way to a 92-73 win on the road. Leading the team in scoring was Christian Anderson with 26 points, six assists and three rebounds, while JT Toppin had 22 points and four boards. Donovan Atwell added 21 points as well.

Why the Texas Tech Red Raiders will win

• Texas Tech has won each of its last 11 games at United Supermarkets Arena.
• Texas Tech has won the first half in each of its last 11 games at United Supermarkets Arena.

Why the Houston Cougars will win

• Houston has won each of its last 18 games against Conference opponents.
• Texas Tech has lost each of its last six games as a top-15 AP-ranked team against a top-10 AP-ranked team.
• Houston has won the first half in 10 of its last 11 night games.

Total Points Facts

• Eighteen of Texas Tech’s last 19 night games have produced a total of 141+ points.
• Each of Houston’s last eight Saturday games against Conference opponents have produced a total of 137 or fewer points.

Texas Tech vs Houston Prediction

I’ll take a stab on Texas Tech here but you could argue it either way. We should have a fun matchup on our hands. The Raiders didn’t have a ton of trouble with Baylor in their last road win, hitting a stellar 60 percent from the field and 63 percent (17-of-27) from outside alongside 9-of-11 (81.8 percent) from the line. The 13 turnovers were just about the only real complaint in that one. That makes four straight wins for Texas Tech, and they’ve scored 84 or more points in each of the last three.

Texas Tech’s only loss in the last nine games came versus Houston on the road 69-65 on January 6. The Red Raiders had a 33-29 edge on the boards in that one and shot 41.1 percent to the Cougars 39.3 percent, but got beat in the paint 28-20 and had 13 turnovers to five for Houston. This home rematch should give Texas Tech a shot in the arm, but it’ll be close.