Houston vs East Carolina Prediction, Preview, Stream, Odds, & Picks
Houston Looks To Stay Hot vs East Carolina
Cougars Can Clinch Outright AAC Title
The No. 1 Houston Cougars try for a ninth straight win when they take on the host East Carolina Pirates in an American Athletic Conference contest on Saturday night. Houston can clinch the outright conference title with a win, as it leads second-place Memphis by three games. East Carolina has won three of its last four contests and is eighth in the AAC standings, a half-game behind seventh-place UCF. This game might seem like a mismatch, but before you do your betting online on the contest, check out our in-depth preview for more insights.
Let’s check the latest college basketball news, stats, injury reports and college basketball lines for Houston vs East Carolina. We’ve got plenty of NCAA basketball picks for you to consider.
Houston Continues To Dominate AAC
The Houston Cougars have won at least a share of the American Athletic Conference title in four out of five seasons and can clinch the outright crown with one more victory. Houston coach Kelvin Sampson is proud of the consistency his team has shown over the years as it gears up for another run at a possible NCAA title.
“It’s hard for me to talk about that,” Sampson said after Wednesday’s win over Tulane. “I don’t know where to start, what to say. I just think, staying humble. I do the best I can to coach these kids, put them in the best position to win and for them to be successful. I’ve got a great staff. We all work in conjunction with each other. We’ve been winning around here for a long time.”
Against Tulane, it was junior forward J’Wan Roberts leading the way with a career-high 26 points and seven rebounds. Roberts is averaging 10.7 points and 7.3 rebounds this season but has scored 20 or more points in each of the Cougars’ last two contests.
Guard Marcus Sasser has led the way offensively for the Cougars for much of the campaign, averaging 16.9 points along with 3.3 assists and 1.8 steals while shooting 37.9% from 3-point range. Sasser had 22 points against Tulane, his fourth straight game of 20 or more points.
East Carolina Wants To Finish Strong
The East Carolina Pirates were able to push their way above .500 with a win over Tulsa on Tuesday, and they would like to stay there. Of course, that would take an upset of the No. 1 Houston Cougars in the first-ever visit by a top-ranked team in the nation to Minges Arena.
Junior guard Jaden Walker had 24 points, five rebounds and three assists in the win over the Golden Hurricane. Walker is scoring just 6.6 points per game this season but has averaged 17.3 points over the last three games.
Sophomore guard RJ Felton is the Pirates’ leading scorer, averaging 13.6 points per game to go along with 4.4 rebounds per contest. Felton had 27 points in a loss to SMU on Sunday before scoring 14 points and grabbing nine rebounds in Tuesday’s win.
Houston vs East Carolina Injuries
Houston vs East Carolina Head-To-Head
This will be the only regular-season meeting between these teams, as the Houston Cougars try to improve on their 9-1 record over the last 10 meetings with the East Carolina Pirates. That one loss came in February 2021 when the then-No. 5 Cougars lost on the road to the Pirates.
Houston has an 18-6 record against East Carolina all-time. The college basketball lines are favoring the top-ranked Cougars to come away with the road victory.
Houston vs East Carolina Information
- Game: Houston (26-2, 14-1 AAC) vs East Carolina (14-13, 5-9 AAC)
- Location: Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum
- Day/Time: Saturday, 8 p.m. ET
- Houston vs East Carolina Live Stream: TBS
Houston vs East Carolina Betting Lines
Houston vs East Carolina Picks and Prediction
The Houston Cougars are playing as well as anyone in the country, and they’ll look to keep that roll going against the East Carolina Pirates on Saturday. Still, the point spread is pretty big for this one, so even though the Cougars will come away with the victory, we like the Pirates to at least cover.
When making your college basketball picks, take East Carolina to cover at home.
