Houston vs East Carolina Prediction, Odds & Best Bet for February 25 (Cougars Ravage Pirates in Lopsided Affair)

Updated: Sep 10, 5:00pm UTC

Houston vs East Carolina Game Info

2022-23 NCAA Basketball Regular Season Game
No. 1 Houston (26-2, 14-1 AAC) vs. East Carolina (14-13, 5-9 AAC)
Date: Saturday, February 25, 2023
Time: 8:00 PM ET
Venue: Minges Coliseum -- Greenville, North Carolina
Coverage: ESPN2

Saturday, Feb. 25's slate of NCAA college basketball games involves the No. 1 Houston Cougars going one-on-one with the East Carolina Pirates in AAC action at 8 p.m. ET.

Houston has been on an absolute tear lately, picking up its eighth straight win with Wednesday's 89-59 blowout win over Tulane. Meanwhile, East Carolina hopes to capitalize on the momentum coming from its 62-60 victory against Tulsa earlier this week.

Can Houston continue piling up the wins? Or will East Carolina find a way to hand the Cougars their third loss of the year?

Houston vs East Carolina Odds & Spread

All college basketball betting lines, odds and prop bets are from FanDuel Sportsbook.
Moneyline: HOU: (-4500) | E CAR: (+1600)
Spread: HOU: -21.5 (-104) | E CAR: +21.5 (-118)
Total: 132.5 -- Over: (-115) | Under: (-105)

Houston enters this contest as the massive road favorite on the moneyline and spread per FanDuel Sportsbook's odds. This 8 p.m. ET clash also features an over/under of 132.5 points with the over being favored at -115 odds.

Houston vs East Carolina Betting Trends

Houston's record against the spread is 17-11-0.
The Cougars have an ATS record of 9-2 as 20.5-point favorites or more.
Out of 28 Houston's games so far this season, 14 have hit the over.
Against the spread, East Carolina is 15-12-0 this season.
There have been 14 East Carolina games (out of 27) that hit the over this year.

Houston Rank	Houston AVG		East Carolina AVG	East Carolina Rank
76th	76.1	Points Scored	69.5	232nd
1st	55.9	Points Allowed	70.4	196th
15th	36.1	Rebounds	33.6	83rd
6th	11.7	Off. Rebounds	10.5	31st
120th	7.9	3pt Made	7.7	142nd
51st	15.1	Assists	13.4	156th
8th	9.3	Turnovers	13.1	284th

Houston vs East Carolina Prediction & Pick

Dominating East Carolina has become second nature to Houston. For starters, the Cougars have won nine of their last 10 games against their AAC rival, scoring the Pirates by an average of 24.9 points over that stretch. On top of that, East Carolina has never tasted victory at Minges Coliseum, losing by at least 43 points in each of its last three visits.

There just isn't a scenario where East Carolina can realistically win tonight. Houston held its conference foe to just 36 points in their last meeting. Considering how the Cougars are 9-0 with the second-best scoring defense on the road this season, I don't see the Pirates finding much offensive success tonight.

Houston plays some of its best basketball against East Carolina and I don't see that trend ending any time soon.

Final Score Prediction: Houston: 83 | East Carolina: 60

Houston vs East Carolina Best Bet

Although a 21.5-point spread is massive, I'm certain that Houston can cover again. The Cougars' elite defense has played a big role in their being 7-2 ATS on the road this season. They've also covered the spread in 12 of their last 18 games against the Pirates, who are 6-7-1 ATS when it comes to AAC contests this season.

Considering how Houston has defeated East Carolina by at least 22 points in four of their last six meetings, I'm counting on another huge win for the road team.

Bet: Houston -21.5 (-104)

Devon Platana is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Devon Platana also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username PepeSilvia0. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.