NCAA Tournament Odds - Houston vs Maryland

This is one of those games where you may need a stopwatch, because it could resemble a track meet. Houston is not necessarily a very accurate shooting team (just 42%, in fact), but the Cougars average 78.6 points a game, and throw up a lot of three-pointers (making 8.3 per game). The numbers have been set high enough for them that they have actually played 16 of its 28 games under the total.

Houston Cougars (19-15 SU, 15-16 ATS) vs. Maryland Terrapins (23-8 SU, 17-10 ATS)
NCAA Tournament @ Spokane
Friday, March 19 - 9:40 PM ET

: MARYLAND -9.5, TOTAL 156

Here are some of the NCAA basketball betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

• HOU has covered four of its last five games
• HOU has won five of its last six games SU
• HOU has played seven of its last eight games OVER the total
• MD has covered four of its last five games
• MD has won seven of its last eight games SU
• MD has played five of its last six games OVER the total

In Houston, things start with Aubrey Coleman, who is the nation's leading scorer at 25.6 points a game. Coleman does make an average of 1.5 threes a contest but what he really likes to do is drive and get to the line; he gets to the charity stripe nine times a game, which is as much as the rest of the starting lineup combined. Coleman's partner in the backcourt, Kelvin Lewis, is very active from beyond the arc, making almost three treys per game, and he is just about 40% from there. This Houston team likes to create offensive opportunities from defense, grabbing 9.5 steals a game. Of course, that kind of approach can leave you vulnerable when you are taking chances; the Cougars are somewhat permissive, allowing opponents to connect on 46% of their shots.

This style has led to some wide-open wins and losses. Houston lost to Nevada earlier in the year by a 112-99 score, and beat Oklahoma 100-93 in their next game. They also reached the 100 mark against TCU. In the Conference USA final against UTEP, they made 12 three-pointers and pulled off an 81-73 upset that got them here.

Maryland is a team that is often in a hurry as well. What the Terps have to their advantage is a traffic cop who is one of the best point guards in this tourney. Greivis Marquez makes threes, steals the ball;, dishes out assists and cleans the glass. He is also the team's leading scorer, at 19.5 ppg. Maryland has four starters who average in double figures, and obviously the Terrapins are more defensive-minded than their Houston counterparts (allowing 38.8% FG's).

My sense is that Maryland is going to welcome Houston and its up-tempo style. My sense is also that Houston may go down, but the Cougars are going to go down swinging. There's no sense in playing careful now; they are going to run and gun their way through this thing for as long as it lasts. They also don't offer a lot of defensive resistance. Let's go OVER the 156-point total as it is posted in the March Madness betting odds.

(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)