A Big 12 matchup in the Lone Star State is set for Monday when the #4 Houston Cougars (18-2, 5-2 Big 12) travel in-state to take on the Texas Longhorns (14-6, 3-4 Big 12). Houston just pulled out a strong home win over Kansas State 74-52, covering the 14.5-point spread as favorites. Texas is coming off a road loss, going down in BYU 84-72 and failing to cover as 7.5-point underdogs. This is the first of two matchups between these teams this season, and they did not meet last year as Houston was not yet a member of the Big 12. Houston is currently listed as 5-point road favorites. Tipoff is scheduled for 9:00 EST from the Moody Center in Austin, Texas and can be found on ESPN.
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The Houston Cougars are only a half game out of first in the Big 12, trailing Texas Tech as the Red Raiders have a 5-1 league record. Houston is tied with Iowa State as the two teams with 5-2 records. Houston is staying near the top of the rankings, and have won their last four league games. They gave Texas Tech their only league loss, and also defeated UCF, BYU and Kansas State in the stretch. In their most recent game against Kansas State, the Cougars were led by Jamal Shead with 17 points in the win over the Wildcats.
Get your Sunday started right with HIGHLIGHTS from Saturday's big win over rv/rv Kansas State in Fertitta Center
NEXT – at rv/rv Texas, 8 pm MONDAY, Austin, Texas#ForTheCity x #GoCoogs pic.twitter.com/RvMUJv6wfi
— Houston Men's Hoops ?? ?? (@UHCougarMBK) January 28, 2024
Houston is led by three quick guards on the perimeter, their leading scorer is 6'1 senior L.J. Cryer with 15.2 PPG. He is the top shooter on the team with 60 made threes on the season while converting 38.7% of his attempts from deep. Cryer was relatively quiet against K-State, finishing with just seven points on 3-13 shooting, but did score 23 in the previous game against BYU. Their second leading scorer is 6'3 sophomore Emanuel Sharp with 12.2 PPG and adds 3.9 RPG. Sharpe has not reached double figures in his last five games. Jamal Shead is a 6'1 senior guard, he is a three-year starter for the Cougars and averahed 11.7 PPG and a team high 5.9 APG. Shead has reached double figures in his last six games, including a 29-point game in the win over Texas Tech. Their best post player is 6'7 senior forward J'Wan Roberts, he averages 8.4 PPG and 7.1 RPG.
The Cougars are the top ranked team in KenPom. They rank 14th in offe nsive efficiency and have the most efficient defense in the country. Houston plays very slow offensively, they rank 350th in tempo based on their slow pace of play. They are currently projected to be the number one seed in the South Region of the NCAA Tournament according to Joe Lunardi's Bracketology.
Injury Report: Terrance Arceneaux is out for the season with an achilles injury, he was averaging 5.5 PPG through 11 games.