West Virginia Mountaineers vs. Texas Longhorns Predictions, Picks, Odds and NCAA Basketball Betting Preview – February 16, 2016

The No. 10 West Virginia Mountaineers have a testy three-game stretch ahead of them, as they’re about to pass through three ranked opponents, beginning with a road game against No. 24 Texas Longhorns. The Mountaineers lost to Texas back in January, which makes tonight’s contest a more intriguing for both sides.

Read on for more about this game. You can also check out our preview of Iowa vs. Baylor.

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West Virginia Mountaineers vs. Texas Longhorns Preview

Where: Frank Erwin Center, Austin

When: Tuesday, February 16, 7:00 PM ET

Line: West Virginia Mountaineers at Texas Longhorns – view all NCAA Basketball lines

TV Broadcast: ESPN

Betting on the West Virginia Mountaineers (20-5, 9-3 Big 12)

It’s not fun playing against West Virginia. The TCU Horned Frogs could attest to that, as they were bludgeoned by the Mountaineers on Saturday, 73-42. It was a great pick-me-up win for Bob Huggins’ boys, who previously lost to Kansas, 72-65.

A tougher challenge awaits WVU tonight in Austin, where the Mountaineers will engage Texas in a rematch. In the earlier meeting, the Mountaineers’ normally robust offense went silent, shooting just 19-for-61 from the field in a 56-49 loss on January 20.

West Virginia leading scorer Jaysean Paige only had four points in that game, but he’s clearly regained his shooting touch since, as he’s averaged 16.1 points over the Mountaineers’ last seven games.

Devin Williams and Jonathan Holton, who grabbed 20 rebounds together against TCU, figure to dominate the glass anew tonight. The two plucked down 25 of the team’s 49 total rebounds in the previous matchup with the Longhorns, who managed just 33 boards. WVU is second in the conference with 40.0 rebounds per game, while Texas is near the bottom with 35.9.

West Virginia forces opponents to commit 19.1 turnovers per game, the most in the nation. And it let the Horned Frogs taste the wrath of “Press Virginia”, as TCU recorded 26 errors, which WVU converted into 26 points.

West Virginia is 3-1 ATS in its last four games overall.

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Betting on the Texas Longhorns (16-9, 7-5 Big 12)

Despite losing back-to-back to No. 3 Oklahoma and No. 14 Iowa State, the Longhorns are still within striking distance of the Big 12 regular season title. The Longhorns look to get back on track and strengthen their case for a higher seed this coming March, when they face Big 12 powerhouse West Virginia tonight.

As mentioned earlier, the Longhorns have already defeated WVU before and that was largely because of their defense that limited the Mountaineers to only 31.1 percent shooting. Furthermore, they also gave the Mountaineers a dose of their own medicine, as West Virgina picked up 11 errors as against their eight turnovers.

Not to be overlooked was Texas’ aggressive play that resulted into more free throws. Texas went 18-for-30 from the charity stripe, while WVU shot an embarrassing 8-for-23. Expect the Longhorns to fish for contacts to throw off the Mountaineers side that commits 23.6 personal fouls per game, fifth most in the nation.

Isaiah Taylor, who chipped in nine points in an 85-75 loss to Iowa State on Saturday, is Texas’ top scorer with 15.2 points per game. The Longhorns are also looking for senior guard Javan Felix to provide extra offense. Felix scored 17 points in the earlier matchup with WVU. He is third on the team with 11.1 PPG.

Dating back to 2013, Texas is 5-2 SU and 6-1 ATS in its last seven games against West Virginia.

Writer’s Prediction

West Virginia wins, 74-69.

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