South Florida Bulls vs Houston Cougars Predictions, Picks, Odds, and NCAA Basketball Betting Preview – February 23 2019

The No. 9 Houston Cougars are among the hottest teams right now, as their unbeaten streak has hit the double-digit mark. They will look to extend that further this coming weekend against the South Florida Bulls, who are eyeing a return in the win column. According to current NCAA Futures, the Cougars have +8,000 odds to win the college basketball national championship.

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Betting Preview for the South Florida Bulls vs. Houston Cougars College Basketball Game on February 23, 2019

Where: Fertitta Center, Houston, Texas

When: Saturday, February 23, 2019, 6:00 PM ET

Line: South Florida Bulls (odds) vs. Houston Cougars (odds) – view all NCAA Basketball lines

TV Broadcast: ESPN

Betting on the South Florida Bulls (18-8 Overall / 7-6 Conference)

The Bulls are suddenly struggling. After stitching together five-straight wins, South Florida has lost each of its last two games. They got downed by the UCF Knights on the road on Feb. 13, 78-65 before suffering a heartbreaking 70-69 home loss to the Temple Owls last Saturday. South Florida’s offense and defense have been down of late. They are averaging 72.7 points per game this season, but has managed to put up just 68.7 points in their last three contests. Their usually solid defense that holds opponents down to only 66.3 points per game this season, has surrendered an average of 72.0 points in their last three outings. But perhaps the most consistent source of South Florida’s headache is its poor job in protecting the ball. The Bulldogs leads the conference with 16.7 turnovers per game. They had 19 errors in their 69-60 home loss to Houston on Jan. 19.

South Florida is 3-4 straight up (SU) and 8-1 against the spread (ATS) in road games this season.

Betting on the Houston Cougars (25-1 Overall / 12-1 Conference)

The Cougars are scorching hot right now. After defeating the Tulane Green Wave, 85-50, last Sunday, Houston has extended its winning streak to 10 games. That stretch includes also the aforementioned win over South Florida in which Houston’s defense made life hard for the Bulls. In that game, the Bull shot just 31.8 percent from the field and went just 5-for-21 from behind the arc. However, the Cougars will have to pump the breaks a bit on their aggressiveness on defense, as they shelled out 33 fouls against South Florida to just 29 by the Bulls. That resulted to the Bulls getting 41 free throw attempts. Houston also benefited from the production of its bench in the South Florida game, as the Cougars’ second unit outscored the Bulls’ relievers, 25-14, which proved to a major difference.

Houston is 9-4 ATS in conference games and 10-6-1 ATS in home games this season.

Writer’s Prediction

Houston wins, 71-57.

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