Check out our free North Texas vs Rice pick and preview for this NCAA Basketball game in Houston. See who we like to win and cover the spread in this College Basketball matchup.
North Texas vs Rice Pick & Preview: Saturday, February 4th Betting Odds
Mean Green vs Owls Matchup at a Glance
- Sport: NCAAB
- Teams: North Texas Mean Green at Rice Owls
- Where: Houston at Tudor Fieldhouse
- Date: Saturday, February 4th
- Betting Odds: North Texas -4, NTX -189 | RICE +153 O/U 127.5
Mean Green Preview:
Through 23 games, the North Texas Mean Green have an overall record of 18-5. On the road, the Mean Green will be playing their 11th game of the season, having gone 9-2. This season, North Texas has been favored to win in 18 games, sitting with a mark of 15-3. For today’s contest, North Texas has a betting line set -4 points in their favor.
North Texas will be counting on another strong performance from the team’s leading scorer Tylor Perry who is averaging 17.48 points per game for the Mean Green. Perry is also important to the team’s ability to score on the perimeter. So far, he leads the team in 3-point shots made. Also key to the Mean Green’s offensive game plan is the play of Kai Huntsberry who has hit 36.5% of his field goal attempts on his way to averaging 11.43 points per game.
Offensive production has been hard to come by for North Texas this season, as they are currently ranked 385th in college basketball at 64.9 points per game. A major reason for low scoring totals is the fact that they have played at a below average pace, and have struggled to knock down outside shots. As a team, the Mean Green’s 3-point shooting percentage sits at just 35.2%, placing them 168th in the NCAA.
Owls Preview:
Rice heads into this matchup having played 22 games and have an overall record sitting at 15-7. Currently, the Owls have been the home team 13 times, sitting with a record of 10-3. So far, the Owls have been the underdog 9 times, going 4-5 straight up. Heading into today’s contest, they are the +4 underdogs on the spread.
Rice will be counting on another strong performance from the team’s leading scorer Quincy Olivari who is averaging 19.18 points per game for the Owls. Olivari is also important to the team’s ability to score on the perimeter. So far, he leads the team in 3-point shots made. Also key to the Owls’ offensive game plan is the play of Travis Evee who has hit 39.8% of his field goal attempts on his way to averaging 15.36 points per game.
On offense, Rice comes into the game looking to control the pace of play, as they are just 370th in possessions per game. Even with their preference to slow the game down, the Owls’ are scoring at a rate similar to the NCAA average at 74.4 points per game. So far, 42.93% of their shots have come from beyond the arc, where they have connected at a rate of 37.3%.
Free Spread Prediction: Rice Owls +4
A key to this matchup, will be 3-point shooting. Coming into the game, both North Texas and Rice are excellent 3-point shooting teams, averaging 8.33 and 9.16 made 3’s per game, respectively. In terms of the odds, we like the Rice Owls to cover as +4 point dogs. Look for their defense to do a good enough job closing out on the Mean Green’s outside shooters to make things difficult for North Texas. At +4 we like the chances of Rice covering the spread as underdogs.
