#5 Houston (23-4) at #9 Texas Tech (21-6)

This game between two of the best teams in the BIG 12 and two top ten teams features the Houston Cougars traveling to Lubbock, Texas to take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders. This game marks the first time Houston has played at Texas Tech since January 1, 2003. Both teams are playing well right now heading into this rematch of a game that Texas Tech won 82-81 at Houston on February 1st. With a win, Houston would lock up the BIG 12 regular season title, so expect Kelvin Sampson’s Cougars to be extremely motivated, especially after losing to them the first time. However, Texas Tech is never an easy place to play as they are 14-2 at home this season. This game should be rocking from the jump and provide great Monday night entertainment.

Outlook for Houston:

Houston is on a six-game winning streak since their loss to Texas Tech at the beginning of February which includes wins over Baylor, Arizona, and Iowa State. Since giving up 82 to Texas Tech, the Cougar defense hasn’t allowed more than 65 points over the last six games while holding their opponent to under 60 in three of those games. Houston is much healthier than the last time they played Texas Tech. Emanuel Sharp only played 18 minutes in that game but has since gotten healthier. Houston also had some other guys with nagging injuries that have gotten better over the last few weeks. In the first matchup against Tech, Houston got a big game out of LJ Cryer. He is coming off another big game this past Saturday where he had 28 points and is shooting the ball very well right now with 9 threes over his last two games. They will need another big game out of him and a more efficient game from J’Wan Roberts than they got the first time when he shot 6 for 15. Houston’s defense will be the story in this game. They have been elite since that Texas Tech game. The Texas Tech offense can exploit the Houston defense because of their ability to shoot over the top of them. This game will also look different because Texas Tech’s leading scorer JT Toppin likely won’t get ejected 4 minutes into this game, so Houston’s defense will have its work cut out for them. Texas Tech shoots the three at 38% which is the only weak spot of the Cougar defense since they are top 5 in the country in two-point field goal percentage defense. This is a tough spot for Houston on just one day’s rest, but it’s always hard to say that Houston is going to lose a game.

Outlook for Texas Tech:

Texas Tech enters this game going 4-2 since their win over Houston with losses to Arizona and TCU, both on the road. The Lubbock crowd should be out in full force for this top-tier matchup tonight in which Tech will need to continue to shoot it well from beyond the arc to beat this Houston team. In the last matchup, they made 12 threes and are shooting 38.4% from three as a team this season, which is good for 16th in the country. That is a good statistic to have against this Houston team that is so elite at defending inside the arc. Texas Tech also does a good job of taking care of the ball and they were not really affected by the physical nature of Houston’s defense in the first matchup. Tech also gets JT Toppin in this matchup after he was ejected early in the first game against Houston, which adds another element to their offense. The biggest question mark in this game is Chance McMillian, Texas Tech’s leading scorer in the first matchup against Houston. He sat out on Saturday against West Virginia with a lower-body injury, but there is not much information provided as to what it is or how long he could be out. It might have been just an off day to get him ready for this game tonight if he had some sort of injury that had been lingering, which would be our best guess. Expect him to play tonight and help the slew of shooters for the Red Raiders try to light up the scoreboard against Houston again. If he can’t play, look for increased shot attempts for Christian Anderson, Darrion Williams, and Elijah Hawkins. The Texas Tech defense is no joke either, but they will need to keep Houston off the offensive glass if they want to come out of this with a win. Houston had 16 offensive rebounds in the first matchup, which is an area in which the Cougars excel against most teams. If the Red Raiders can limit second-chance opportunities for the Houston offense and use their crowd to feed their defense energy, then they should be in a great spot to sweep the season series against Kelvin Sampson’s club.

The Final Word:

Kelvin Sampson’s defense has been playing great lately. Expect them to make some adjustments to guard the Texas Tech three-point shooting a little bit more and force them to go into their gauntlet of a two-point defense. Having JT Toppin back will help Texas Tech on the glass, but not enough to stop this relentless Cougar attack from racking up the second chance points. This Houston bus is rolling right now and it won’t be stopped in Lubbock. Houston will turn this game into a rock fight and head back to Houston victorious behind big games from J’Wan Roberts and LJ Cryer.