Houston Cougars face SIU-Edwardsville Cougars in opening round of NCAA Tournament

SIU-Edwardsville Cougars (22-11, 15-7 OVC) vs. Houston Cougars (30-4, 22-1 Big 12)

Wichita, Kansas; Thursday, 2 p.m. EDT

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Cougars -28.5; over/under is 126.5

BOTTOM LINE: No. 2 Houston plays in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament against SIU-Edwardsville.

The Houston Cougars’ record in Big 12 play is 22-1, and their record is 8-3 in non-conference games. Houston is the top team in the Big 12 at limiting opponent scoring, giving up 58.5 points while holding opponents to 38.3% shooting.

The SIU-Edwardsville Cougars’ record in OVC action is 15-7. SIU-Edwardsville is third in the OVC with 10.0 offensive rebounds per game led by Jo Valrie averaging 3.7.

Houston’s average of 8.1 made 3-pointers per game this season is just 0.8 more made shots on average than the 7.3 per game SIU-Edwardsville allows. SIU-Edwardsville has shot at a 43.4% clip from the field this season, 5.1 percentage points greater than the 38.3% shooting opponents of Houston have averaged.

TOP PERFORMERS: LJ Cryer is shooting 42.2% from beyond the arc with 2.9 made 3-pointers per game for the Houston Cougars, while averaging 15.2 points. Milos Uzan is averaging 15 points over the last 10 games.

Ray’Sean Taylor is averaging 19.3 points, 3.8 assists and two steals for the SIU-Edwardsville Cougars. Ring Malith is averaging 12.6 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Houston Cougars: 10-0, averaging 70.5 points, 30.0 rebounds, 9.0 assists, 7.8 steals and 4.1 blocks per game while shooting 45.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 61.3 points per game.

SIU-Edwardsville Cougars: 7-3, averaging 72.5 points, 34.9 rebounds, 13.5 assists, 5.7 steals and 4.4 blocks per game while shooting 44.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 65.6 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.