Saint Mary's vs Houston Prediction, Odds & Best Bet for Dec. 3 (Gaels' Losing Streak Extends at Battleground 2k22)

Saint Mary's vs Houston Game Info

2022-23 NCAA College Basketball Regular Season Game
Saint Mary's Gaels (6-2) vs. No. 1 Houston Cougars (7-0)
Date: Saturday, Dec. 3, 2022
Time: 9:30 p.m. ET
Venue: Dickies Arena — Fort Worth, TX
Coverage: ESPN2

The 2022-23 NCAA college basketball season continues on Saturday, Dec. 3, including a Battleground 2k22 matchup between the Saint Mary's Gaels and No. 1 Houston Cougars.

After a flawless 6-0 start to the year, Saint Mary's lost its second of back-to-back games with a 69-65 loss to New Mexico on Wednesday. Houston was in action the night before, extending its flawless run with a huge 100-52 blowout victory over Norfolk State.

Can Saint Mary's get back into the win column with a victory over the nation's top program? Or will Houston prove to the Gaels exactly why the former has been dominating the competition left and right thus far?

Saint Mary's vs Houston Odds & Spread

All NCAA college basketball betting lines, odds and prop bets.
Moneyline: SMC: (+360) | HOU: (-480)
Spread: SMC: +9.5 (-110) | HOU: -9.5 (-110)
Total: 118.5 - Over: (-110) | Under: (-110)

Houston enters this contest as the clear favorite on the moneyline and spread per FanDuel Sportsbook's odds. This 9:30 p.m. ET clash also features an over/under of 118.5 points, which is the lowest of Saturday's projected totals.

Saint Mary's vs Houston Prediction & Pick

This is a meeting between two of the better defensive teams in college basketball. While Saint Mary's has been impressive with its only allowing opponents to score 57.5 points per game (No.16), Houston has been on another level, allowing a nation-low 48.0 PPG on 30.0% shooting (No. 1).

Saint Mary's, on the other hand, has let opponents shoot 44.1% from the floor over its last three games, which is above its 38.9% average overall. The Cougars are also the superior rebounding team and have a plus-5 differential on turnovers compared to plus-3.2 mark.

With Houston also boasting the No. 1 point margin (plus-29.9) in the United States, it's tough to see Saint Mary's pulling off an upset. The Cougars are on a different level and won't have much of an issue handling the Gaels.

Final Score Prediction: Houston: 65 | Saint Mary's: 53

Saint Mary's vs Houston Betting Trends

- Saint Mary's is 12-4 straight up in its last 16 games.
- Houston is 6-1 against the spread (ATS) in its last seven games.
- The total has hit the under in four of Saint Mary's last five games played on Saturday.
- The total has hit the under in eight of Saint Mary's last 10 games.

Saint Mary's vs Houston Best Bet

As far as best bets go, I'm going with Houston covering the 9.5-point spread. On top of the Cougars owning the top point margin, they're also 6-1 ATS this season. Meanwhile, the Gaels have failed to cover in four in their last eight games, as well as in each of their latest two outings.

Houston is the clear-cut better team here and shouldn't have an issue winning by a double-digit margin.

Bet: Houston -9.5 (-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.