The Baylor Bears and Houston Cougars take the court in the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday with a chance to play in the championship game on the line. Bookmakers have installed Baylor as 5.5-point favorites for the contest, at which begins at a time to be announced (airing on CBS).
In their last game, the Bears picked up a 81-72 win over Arkansas and covered the 8-point spread they were favored by. The teams went over the 147.5 point total set by oddsmakers. MaCio Teague put up a team-high 22 points in the victory on Monday.
Marcus Sasser led the way for the Cougars with a team-high 20 points last time out as they picked up a 67-61 win over Oregon State and failed to cover the 8-point spread as favorites. The teams combined to hit the under on the 130 point total set for the matchup.
Houston at Baylor: Betting odds, spread and lines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list.
Lines last updated at 1 PM ET on April 3, 2021.
- Money line: Houston +190 (bet $100 to win $190) | Baylor -225 (bet $225 to win $100)
- Against the spread/ATS: Houston +5.5 (-110) | Baylor -5.5 (-110)
- Over/Under: 135 (O: -110 | U: -110)
Baylor: Three things to know
- The Bears scoring leader is Jared Butler, who contributes 16.5 points per game. Butler is the top three-point shooter for the team, hitting 2.5 per game.
- The Bears record 25.4 more points per game (83) than the Cougars give up (57.6).
- Baylor has a 16-0-1 record against the spread and a 26-2 record overall when putting up more than 57.6 points.
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Houston: Three things to know
- Quentin Grimes leads the Cougars in scoring, averaging 18.0 points per game. Grimes paces the squad with a team-high 3.4 made three-pointers per game.
- The Cougars’ 76.6 points per game are 11.1 more points than the 65.5 the Bears give up to opponents.
- Houston is 24-1 overall and 17-0 against the spread in games where it scores more than 65.5 points.
Houston at Baylor: Odds, betting lines, predictions and picks
Prediction
Houston 71, Baylor 70
Money line
The model favors the Cougars to win matchup, disagreeing with BetMGM’s money line favorite.
Against the spread (ATS)
The data strongly suggests betting on the Cougars in this one. The model favors them while MGM has the Bears favored and the difference between the two is 6.5 points.
Over/Under (O/U)
The MGM point total for this game is just 6.0 points lower than the model projection.
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