The No. 2 Houston Cougars (24-3) and the No. 15 Cleveland State Vikings (19-7) will meet on Friday to compete for a spot in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Houston is favored by 20 points in the opening round matchup, which tips off at 7:15 PM ET on truTV. Here are the insights you need when filling out your bracket for this 2-15 matchup.
The betting insights and predictions in this article reflect betting data from DraftKings as of March 16, 2021, 12:10 AM ET.
Betting Odds
Favorite | Spread | Favorite Spread Odds | Underdog Spread Odds | Total | Over Total Odds | Under Total Odds |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Houston | -20 | -110 | -109 | 135 | -112 | -109 |
Keys to the Game for Houston
- Houston holds a solid record against the spread this season, going 18-8 ATS.
- The Cougars are 1-1 as at least 20-point favorites.
- The Cougars go above the points half of the time, in 13 of 26 games (50%).
Against the Spread (ATS) records are only reflective of games that had odds on them.
Houston Leaders
- The Cougars scoring leader is Quentin Grimes, who averages 18.0 per contest to go with 6.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists.
- Houston’s leading rebounder is Justin Gorham averaging 9.0 boards per game and its best passer is DeJon Jarreau and his 4.4 assists per game.
- Grimes leads his teammates on the Cougars with 3.3 made threes per outing.
- Jarreau is the Cougars leader in steals, averaging 1.4 steals per game, while Brison Gresham leads them in blocks with 1.5 per contest.
Keys to the Game for Cleveland State
- Cleveland State has covered the spread in greater than half of its games, going 17-8 ATS.
- Cleveland State has combined with its opponents to hit the over in 50% of matchups this season (13 out of 26 opportunities).
Against the Spread (ATS) records are only reflective of games that had odds on them.
Cleveland State Leaders
- Torrey Patton has the top Vikings spot in two categories: scoring (14.9 points per game) and rebounding (8.1 rebounds per game).
- The Cleveland State leader in assists is Craig Beaudion with 3.3 assists per game.
- D’Moi Hodge paces the Vikings with a team-high 1.5 made three-pointers per game.
- Hodge is the steals leader for Cleveland State with 1.6 steals per game and Deante Johnson leads the squad in blocks with 1.1 per game.
Computer Picks
Pick ATS:
Cougars (-20)
Pick OU:
Over (135)
Prediction: Houston 79, Cleveland State 59
Predictions are calculated by a data-driven algorithm (raw power score) that ranks head-to-head matchup results within a closed network of games. Prediction confidence is determined by the delta between each team’s raw power score.
Last 5 Games
Houston | Cleveland State | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Date | Opponent | Result | Score | Date | Opponent | Result | Score |
3/14/2021 | Cincinnati | Win | 91-54 | 3/9/2021 | Oakland | Win | 80-69 |
3/13/2021 | Memphis | Win | 76-74 | 3/8/2021 | Milwaukee | Win | 71-65 |
3/12/2021 | Tulane | Win | 77-52 | 3/2/2021 | Purdue Fort Wayne | Win | 108-104 |
3/7/2021 | Memphis | Win | 67-64 | 2/20/2021 | Purdue Fort Wayne | Win | 67-55 |
2/28/2021 | South Florida | Win | 98-52 | 2/19/2021 | Purdue Fort Wayne | Loss | 75-68 |
Against The Spread (ATS) records are only reflective of games that had odds on them.
Powered By Data Skrive using data from