The Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks will travel to Hofheinz Pavilion to play the Houston Cougars. The game gets underway at 8:00 pm ET on Saturday, Nov. 28 and will air on ES3.
The Cougars enter this game hoping for similar success after blowing out Florida A&M 97-52 in their last matchup. Ronnie Johnson was the game’s high scorer with 20 points on 8-for-9 shooting. The Warhawks are coming off an 80-64 win against Northwestern State in their last game. Majok Deng claimed his first double-double of the season with 19 points and 12 rebounds.
Houston is a seven-point favorite against Louisiana-Monroe and the Over/Under (O/U) for this game is 137 points. The Cougars are one of the best in Division I in terms of free throw percentage, shooting an impressive .795 from the free throw line. Few teams in the nation have a higher assist-to-turnover ratio than Houston, which ranks 12th at 1.75. Opposing teams know they’re in for a battle when they play Houston’s stingy defense. The Cougars are one of the top teams when it comes to defense, allowing just 60.5 points per game. Teams have to fight for three-pointers against the Cougars, who allow the fewest opponent three-pointers made in the nation at eight (4.0 per game).
As for their opponent, it’s hard to argue with the ATS failures of Louisiana-Monroe. The Warhawks are clearly doing something wrong with a 0-1 record ATS to go along with a 2-1 record SU so far. The Warhawks are a force on the boards, grabbing an average of 44.3 rebounds per game. Switching gears to the Louisiana-Monroe defense, the Warhawks allow very few three-pointers on defense with 5.0 given up per game. Teams with weak ball handling have not fared well against the Warhawks, who rank 50th in the nation with 8.3 steals per game.
Houston and Louisiana-Monroe will be facing off for their first head-to-head game in recent seasons.
Predictions: SU Winner – Hou, ATS Winner – Hou, O/U – Under
Notes
Houston is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games.
Houston is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games at home.
Louisiana-Monroe averages 74.7 points per game, placing the team just 184th in the nation. Houston ranks 27th in points allowed, giving up 60.5 points per game.
Louisiana-Monroe scores just 68.0 points per away game (ranked 180th). Houston ranks 90th in points allowed at home, giving up 60.5 points.
The Houston Cougars have the top-ranked offense this season, averaging 135.9 points per 100 possessions. The Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks have one of the best defenses, allowing 84.3 points in the same number of possessions (ranked 16th).
On average, Houston has 76.2 possessions per game and scores 1.359 points on each possession. Louisiana-Monroe has both fewer possessions (69.1) and scores fewer points during those possessions (1.080).
The Houston Cougars rank fifth in assists per game with an average of 21.0. The Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks are among the worst in the country with 14.0 assists per game (ranked 157th).
Houston, the 89th-ranked team in blocked shots, records an average of 4.5 per game. Louisiana-Monroe does worse, ranked 148th with 3.7.
Houston ranks 127th in offensive rebounds, while Louisiana-Monroe ranks 74th in defensive rebounds.
Louisiana-Monroe makes 8.3 steals per game. In games where it allows 8 or more steals, Houston is undefeated at 1-0.
