Houston at Massachusetts

When two hot teams with exciting high-scoring offenses meet, the public can't help but jump on the OVER. The oddsmakers know this and inflate the line. Houston has won ten in a row and UMass is coming in off five-straight wins and averages 84.1 ppg. But, the Minutemen play decent defense and should be able to contain a Houston team that averages a pedestrian 73 ppg on the road. Houston's defense is great, allowing 63 ppg (61 over their last five games). The fact is, UMass games average less than this total and at home, they average 146.8. Houston games average just 141.4 ppg. Massachusetts likes the three-pointer, putting up 25 attempts per game but the Cougars under Tom Penders are 14-3 UNDER vs. teams that attempt 21+ such shots per game. Houston has also gone UNDER 71% of the time over that span vs. good shooting teams (45%+ from the field). And, they are