NCAAB Free Pick | Texas at Texas Tech
Fourteenth-ranked Texas travels across the state to Lubbock to take on the 18th-ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders on Saturday. The Longhorns are coming off a huge win over Kansas on Tuesday.
The victory marked the first time since the Big 12 went to round-robin play in 2011-12 that Texas swept the Jayhawks in the season series.
The Red Raiders are headed in the opposite direction having lost three straight. Head coach Chris Beard’s team is in desperate need of a win. Can they get it on Saturday?
Game: Texas Longhorns (14-6, 7-12-1 ATS) at Texas Tech Red Raiders (14-8, 7-15 ATS)
When: 12:00 PM ET, Saturday, February 27, 2021
Where: United Supermarkets Arena, Lubbock, Texas
Current Line: OFF Total: OFF
TV Coverage: CBS
Recent History
The two teams played once already, January 13 in Austin. The Red Raiders won that game 79-77 covering the one-point spread. Tech’s leading scorer Mac McClung hit a three-pointer with just three seconds to play to give the Red Raiders the victory. McClung, who averages 16.9 points a game, scored 22 in that game.
Beard’s Texas Tech teams are notable for their defense. They normally rank among the best in the Big 12 and even the nation. The Red Raiders have given up 73 or more points in five of their last seven games.
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It’s hard to trust the Red Raiders since they were favored in four of their previous five games and failed to cover in all of them. Texas Tech is only 7-15 ATS for the season and they are just 3-5 ATS on the road.
Texas, which is likely to be favored this time around, is in the same boat. The Longhorns haven’t been good to bettors either going 1-8-1 ATS in their last ten games.
Check out our Duke at NC State betting preview from a couple weekends ago.
What Texas has done though is win three of its last four games. The biggest, of course, was the win over Kansas on Tuesday. Avenging the earlier loss to Texas Tech would be another feather in the cap for Texas and head coach Shaka Smart. The Longhorns currently look like a No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament. They would surely like to improve upon that.
With the Longhorns a slight favorite – most likely no more than -3 – and both teams’ records against the spread, the value just isn’t there. Bettors should play the total in this one.
Texas has been playing extremely well lately led by 6-4 guard Andrew Jones who haverages 15.4 points per game. The Longhorns have scored 70-plus points in eight of their last ten games.
Texas at Texas Tech Free Pick
Not surprisingly, the Over is 8-2 in the last ten Longhorns’ games. As good as Texas Tech can be on defense, they have been giving up more points than normal. As a result, they have to score more than usual.
The total has gone Over in three of the Red Raiders’ last four games. What’s even more surprising is that the Over has hit in eight of Texas Tech’s last 13 games.
When the two teams played earlier this season, the total was set at 140. The 75-72 final put the total Over. Expect a similar number on Saturday and the play the Over once again all the way up to 142.