Both the Oklahoma Sooners and the Texas Longhorns are coming off losses, so expect an entertaining battle between these two teams who are groping for form in Big 12 play. The Sooners are +10,000 to win the national title, while the Longhorns are +8,000 to take home the crown.
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Betting Preview for the Oklahoma Sooners vs. Texas Longhorns College Basketball Game on January 19, 2019
Where: Frank Erwin Center, Austin, Texas
When: Saturday, January 19, 2019, 8:00 PM ET
Line: Oklahoma Sooners (odds) vs. Texas Longhorns (odds) – view all NCAA Basketball lines
TV Broadcast: ESPN
Betting on the Oklahoma Sooners (13-4 Overall / 2-3 Conference)
The Sooners are finding it hard to have stability early in their conference play schedule. They have alternated losses and wins over their last five games. Over that stretch, they defeated the Oklahoma State Cowboys at home (74-64) and No. 25 TCU Horned Frogs also at home (76-64), while eating losses against the No. 5 Kansas Jayhawks on the road (70-63), No. 8 Texas Tech Red Raiders in Lubbock (66-59), and the Kansas State Wildcats at home (74-61). The Sooners’ loss to Kansas State was their last game, so basing on their recent trend, they should have a good chance of taking down Texas in Austin. It’s Oklahoma’s defense, however, which will likely dictate its fate this Saturday. The Sooners have one of the best defenses in the nation, with KenPom ranking it ninth overall. The Sooners are allowing just 67.1 points per game while letting opponents shoot just 38.3 percent from the field.
On the road so far this season the Sooners are 4-3 straight up (SU) and 4-1-2 against the spread (ATS) and have gone 3-0-1 ATS in its last four games away from Norman.
Betting on the Texas Longhorns (10-7 Overall / 2-3 Conference)
Texas has owned the Sooners in Austin over the last several years. In fact, the Longhorns have won eight of their last 10 games as the home team against Oklahoma dating back to 2009. They are even 3-0 SU in the last three meetings under that setting. The Longhorns are hoping that a game against Oklahoma is going to be the cure to their recent ills, as they lost all of their last three games, including Monday’s 80-78 defeat to the Kansas Jayhawks in Lawrence. The Longhorns shot well from deep in that game, knocking down 13 3-pointers on 34 attempts. They also outrebounded Kansas, 38-31, but the difference was made at the free throw line, where they let the Jayhawks take 21 attempts from the charity stripe compared to Texas’ seven chances from there. The Longhorns will have to carry over that tenacity on the glass into their date with Oklahoma, which is ranked seventh in the nation in rebounds with 41.8 rebounds per game.
At home so far this season Texas is 9-4 SU but just 4-8 ATS, although they are 3-3 ATS in their last six games at the Frank Erwin Center.
Writer’s Prediction
Oklahoma wins, 73-70.
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