Sam Houston Bearkats vs Texas Longhorns Point Spread Picks

Chris Beard has his Texas team out to a 4-1 start with the only blemish coming to Gonzaga by 12 points on the road. Texas plays with a lot of intensity and pressure and outside of the Gonzaga game, the Horns have turned the opponent over an average of 22 times per contest leading to a lot of easy hoops. Sam Houston is going to have trouble keeping up in this one because they have yet to shoot better than 40% against any of their five Division I opponents. More value can be found off the glass as Texas has out-rebounded all five opponents, including Gonzaga. This one is going to get away early and I like Texas.

Sam Houston State finally played a decent team and lost 88-68 at LSU, as the Tigers shot 49-percent and the Bearkats had an off-shooting night with Demarkus Lampley scoring a team-leading 16 points. The three games before that, Sam Houston averaged an astounding 113.6 points as it feasted on lesser opponents, so the firepower is there. Texas comes off a 74-53 win against Texas State with Greg Brown scoring 18 points for the Longhorns. Texas returns all of its scoring and its entire roster from last season and is expected to challenge for the Big 12 title. The OVER is 11-3-1 in the Bearkats' last 15 games as road underdogs, and Texas has gone OVER five of its last seven as a favorite. Take the OVER.