Who's Playing
Utah Utes @ Houston Cougars
Current Records: Utah 11-6, Houston 14-3
How To Watch
- When: Wednesday, January 22, 2025 at 6 p.m. ET
- Where: Fertitta Center -- Houston, Texas
- TV: ESPN Plus
- Follow: CBS Sports App
- Online Streaming: Catch select College Basketball matches on Fubo (Try for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)
- Ticket Cost: $4.95
What to Know
If the oddsmakers' predictions hold true, the near future looks bright for Houston. They and the Utah Utes will face off in a Big 12 battle at 6:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday at Fertitta Center. The Cougars will be looking to keep their 27-game home win streak dating back to last season alive.
Last Saturday, Houston skirted by UCF 69-68 on a last-minute layup from J'Wan Roberts with but a second left in the second quarter.
Ja'Vier Francis and Roberts were among the main playmakers for Houston as the former dropped a double-double on 16 points and ten rebounds and the latter almost dropped a double-double on 21 points and nine rebounds. The dominant performance also gave Francis a new career-high in offensive rebounds (seven).
Meanwhile, it may have taken overtime to finish the job, but Utah ultimately got the result they hoped for on Saturday. They escaped with a win against BYU by the margin of a single free throw, 73-72. 73 seems to be a good number for the Utes as the squad scooped up a victory with the same number of points in their previous game.
Among those leading the charge was Ezra Ausar, who went 11 for 15 en route to 26 points plus six rebounds and two steals.
Houston is on a roll lately: they've won 11 of their last 12 games, which provided a nice bump to their 14-3 record this season. As for Utah, the win was the third in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 11-6.
Keep an eye on the arc in Wednesday's matchup: Houston has made nailing deep shots look easy this year this season, having averaged 8.7 threes per game. However, it's not like Utah struggles in that department as they've been averaging 9.3. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Houston was able to grind out a solid victory over Utah in their previous matchup back in November of 2023, winning 76-66. Will Houston repeat their success, or does Utah have a better game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Odds
Houston is a big 19.5-point favorite against Utah, according to the latest college basketball odds.
The oddsmakers had a good feel for the line for this one, as the game opened with the Cougars as a 18.5-point favorite.
The over/under is 134.5 points.
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Series History
Houston won the only game these two teams have played in the last 2 years.
- Nov 17, 2023 - Houston 76 vs. Utah 66