Houston vs SMU Prediction, Odds & Best Bet for February 16 (Cougars Capitalize on Strong First-Half Performance)

Houston vs SMU Game Info

• 2022-23 NCAA Basketball Regular Season Game
• No. 2 Houston (23-2, 11-1 AAC) vs. SMU (9-17, 4-9 AAC)
• Date: Thursday, February 16, 2023
• Time: 7:00 PM ET
• Venue: Moody Coliseum -- Dallas, Texas
• Coverage: ESPN2

Thursday, Feb. 16's NCAA college basketball schedule features some AAC action as the No. 2 Houston Cougars get set to take on the SMU Mustangs at 7 p.m. ET.

Houston has been piling up the wins as of late, most recently defeating Tulsa 80-42 to pick up its fifth consecutive victory. Meanwhile, SMU has been heading in the opposite direction. The Mustangs dropped to 1-3 in their last four games with Sunday's 91-89 double-overtime loss to Wichita State.

Can Houston beat up the Mustangs for the second time this season? Or will SMU dig down deep enough to pull off the upset?

Houston vs SMU Odds & Spread

• All college basketball betting lines, odds and prop bets are from FanDuel Sportsbook.
• Moneyline: HOU: (-1700) | SMU: (+890)
• Spread: HOU: -15.5 (-102) | SMU: +15.5 (-120)
• Total: 138.5 -- Over: (-110) | Under: (-110)

Houston enters this contest as the clear road favorite on the moneyline and spread per FanDuel Sportsbook's odds. This 7 p.m. ET clash also features an over/under of 138.5 points with both sides sitting at -110 odds.

Houston vs SMU Betting Trends

• Houston has 16 wins in 25 games against the spread this season.
• The Cougars' ATS record as 16.5-point favorites or more is 10-4.
• This season, 12 of Houston's 25 games have gone over the point total.
• SMU has 10 wins in 25 games against the spread this year.
• The Mustangs have no wins ATS (0-1) as a 16.5-point underdog or more this season.
• Out of SMU's 25 games so far this year, 17 have hit the over.

Houston Rank	Houston AVG		SMU AVG	SMU Rank
87th	75.6	Points Scored	70.2	209th
1st	55.0	Points Allowed	74.7	308th
15th	36.2	Rebounds	31.6	197th
5th	11.8	Off. Rebounds	8.2	217th
106th	8.0	3pt Made	6.5	276th
71st	14.9	Assists	13.6	148th
5th	9.2	Turnovers	12.4	220th

Houston vs SMU Prediction & Pick

Houston had no issue dismantling SMU earlier this season, picking up an 87-53 blowout win back on Jan. 5. The victory was the Cougars' ninth in their last 11 meetings with their AAC rival, defeating the Mustangs by an average margin of 12.2 points.

I don't see tonight's outcome being much different than the last meeting. Even though SMU has the home-court advantage, Houston only surrenders 58.6 PPG on the road (No. 2) on 37.7% shooting (No. 1). That's bad news for the Mustangs, who are shooting just 42.0% from the field (No. 287) this season — especially with the Cougars averaging 39.0 rebounds per game (No. 17).

Holding an 0-3 record against ranked competition, SMU likely doesn't stand a chance tonight. Expect Houston to leave Moody Coliseum with its 12th AAC victory of the season.

Final Score Prediction: Houston: 82 | SMU: 60

Houston vs SMU Best Bet

A strong start played a big factor in Houston's huge win over SMU last month. The Cougars were up by 26 points at halftime and I wouldn't be shocked if they had a decent lead after the first frame tonight.

Houston often has strong starts to its games, highlighted by its nation-leading plus-12.1 first-half scoring margin. A big part of that success is that the Cougars only allow an average of 25.9 points before halftime (No. 2). SMU doesn't see nearly that much success, scoring only 31.8 first-half points (No. 240) while trailing by an average of 1.9 (No. 245).

Houston's smothering defense will prevent SMU from having its desired start to the game, resulting in the Cougars leading by a good chunk at halftime.

Bet: First-Half Spread — Houston -8.5 (-110)

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.