The No. 5 seed Houston Cougars (29-6) and the No. 12 seed UAB Blazers (27-7) will meet in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday at 9:20 PM. Houston is favored by 8.5 points in the contest. Here’s everything you need to know about this 5-12 matchup when filling out your brackets.
Houston is 24-12-0 against the spread this season compared to UAB’s 20-13-1 ATS record. A total of 16 out of the Cougars’ 37 games this season have hit the over, and 24 of the Blazers’ 35 games have gone over. The two teams average 154.4 points per game, 18.4 more points than this matchup’s total. Houston is 9-1-0 against the spread and 9-1 overall over its past 10 contests, while UAB has gone 5-4-0 against the spread and 10-0 overall.
Get ready for this matchup with what you need to know ahead of Friday’s college hoops action.
UAB at Houston odds, spread and lines
Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list.
- Spread: Houston -8.5
- Total: 136
- Moneyline: Houston -407, UAB +313
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UAB at Houston odds, spread, & more
Prediction
Houston 73, UAB 66
Moneyline
- The Cougars have put together a 31-4 record in games they were listed as the moneyline favorite (winning 88.6% of those games).
- In games it has played as a moneyline favorite with odds of -407 or shorter, Houston has gone 25-1 (96.2%).
- Based on this game’s moneyline, the Cougars have an implied win probability of 80.3%.
- The Blazers have entered the game as underdogs three times this season and won twice.
- UAB is undefeated in two games this season when they’re the underdog by +313 or more on the moneyline.
- Oddsmakers have implied with the moneyline set for this matchup that the Blazers have a 24.2% chance to win.
Against the spread
- The Cougars average 73.7 points per game, 7.4 more points than the 66.3 the Blazers allow.
- When Houston puts up more than 66.3 points, it is 18-7 against the spread and 23-2 overall.
- When UAB allows fewer than 73.7 points, it is 12-9-1 against the spread and 20-4 overall.
- The Blazers’ 80.7 points per game are 23.4 more points than the 57.3 the Cougars allow to opponents.
- When it scores more than 57.3 points, UAB is 16-11-1 against the spread and 24-6 overall.
- Houston has an ATS record of 18-11 and a 26-4 record overall when its opponents score fewer than 80.7 points.
- The Cougars have out-scored their opponents by a total of 574 points this season (16.4 points per game on average), and the Blazers have put up 489 more points than their opponents on the year (14.4 per game).
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Over/Under
- The Cougars’ average implied point total this season is 1.4 more points than their implied total in Friday’s game (73.4 implied points on average compared to 72 implied points in this game).
- This season, Houston has put up more than 72 points in 23 games.
- The Blazers’ implied point total in this matchup (64 points) equals the team’s season average.
- This year, UAB has put up more than 64 points in a game 31 times.
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How to watch Houston vs. UAB
- Game Day: Friday, March 18, 2022
- Game Time: 9:20 PM ET
- Live Stream: Hulu
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