The Houston Cougars (8-3) travel to face off against the Oklahoma State Cowboys (8-3) on Monday, December 30th. This game will be played at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater and televised on ESPN+. Both team’s come into this one having won their previous games. Tip-off is set for 8:00 ET.

Houston Cougars vs Oklahoma State Cowboys

The Cougars Are Coming Off A Win

Houston improved to 8-3 on the season with an 87-51 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday. The Cougars were heavy favorites at -31 and covered the spread, while the game’s total points of 138 went over the 134.5 O/U line.

Houston led 46-27 at halftime and continued their strong play in the second half, scoring 41 points and holding the Islanders to 24.

The Cowboys Are Coming Off A Win

Oklahoma State improved to 8-3 on the season with an 86-74 win over Oral Roberts on Sunday. The Cowboys were at home and entered the game as heavy -20.5 favorites.

Leading 38-31 at halftime, Oklahoma State scored 48 points in the 2nd half while allowing 43. The game’s total points of 160 went over the pre-game O/U line of 152.5, but the Cowboys didn’t cover the spread.

Cougars Offense Breakdown

Houston’s offense was firing on all cylinders in their last game, putting up 87 points with a field goal percentage of 49.1%. They were especially effective from beyond the arc, hitting 14 of 29 threes for a 48.3% rate, contributing to an effective field goal percentage of 62.3%.

At the free-throw line, the Cougars were nearly automatic, making 21 of 25 attempts for 84%. Emanuel Sharp led the team with 18 points in just 19 minutes, while L.J. Cryer and Garry Clark each added 17 points, with Cryer hitting 5 of 7 threes.

Cowboys Offense Breakdown

Oklahoma State put up 86 points in their last game, shooting 48.1% from the field. Their effective field goal percentage was 51.9%, with a strong 57.5% shooting on two-pointers, but they struggled from beyond the arc, hitting just 3 of 14 attempts (21.4%).

The Cowboys were effective at the free-throw line, making 31 of 39 attempts (79.5%), and they grabbed 17 offensive rebounds. Issac McBride led the way with 27 points, shooting 61.5% overall and 71.4% from three-point range (5/7), while also contributing 5 assists.

Cougars Team Defense

Despite giving up 51 points, the Houston Cougars had a tough time defensively, allowing the opposing team to shoot 49% from the field. The Cougars conceded 14 threes on 29 attempts, with the other team hitting 48% from beyond the arc.

From the free-throw line, the opposition went 21/25, shooting 84%. Houston also gave up 13 offensive rebounds in the game.

Cowboys Team Defense

Despite Houston’s defensive efforts, they couldn’t slow down their opponent, who scored 51 points. The Cougars allowed 49% shooting from the field, with the other team making 26 of their 53 attempts.

From beyond the arc, Houston’s opponent hit 14 threes on 29 attempts, shooting 48%. They also got to the free-throw line 25 times, converting 21 of those for 84%. Houston gave up 13 offensive rebounds.

Cougars vs Cowboys Trends

• When looking at their past ten road matchups, Houston has an ATS record of 2-7-1 while averaging 71 per game. The team went 6-4 overall in these games.
• Across their last three home contests, Oklahoma State has been good against the spread posting a mark of 2-1. Their overall mark in these games was 2-1, while averaging 79 points per game.
• The last five games that Oklahoma State was the underdog, they have an ATS mark of 1-4 while going 1-4 straight up.
• In their last five games as the betting favorite, the Cougars have a straight up record of 4-1, while going 2-3 against the spread.

Cougars vs Cowboys Prediction

Coming in as the underdogs at +12.5, we have the Cowboys as the way to go on the point spread. Not only do we have them covering, but our projections show they have a good one of winning this one straight-up, if you’re looking for a higher payout on the moneyline.

Right now, the over/under line for the game is sitting at 137.5 and given that our model is projecting 145 points between the teams, we like the over.

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All odds are courtesy of Action247 Sportsbook. Good luck!!

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* All odds are provided by Action247 Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.**All views expressed are my own. My picks are my own and are not a guarantee, bet at your own risk.Action247 does not warrant the accuracy of completeness of the information, text, graphics, links or other items contained within these post.