NCAAB Saturday February 20th West Virginia at Texas Pick
Automatic Play on the Longhorns at Home?
We’ve got a couple of top 15 teams going to work in the February 20th West Virginia at Texas pick. The Mountaineers are ranked 13th in the nation, trying to bounce back from a 1-point OT loss to #9 Oklahoma last Saturday. Things don’t get any easier though at #12 Texas.
Surprisingly the Longhorns are just 7-4 in Austin on the season, losing to Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and Baylor on their own court over the last five at home. Those are good teams, but so is WVU. Texas is still a -3 favorite on Saturday afternoon, and they’ve won 5 of the last 6 in this series including 72-70 in Morgantown last month as +1.5 underdogs.
WVU Trying To Even Things Up
It’s a crazy season, and the Mountaineers are well aware of that after missing two weeks in mid-January because of COVID and then having two games last week postponed because of inclement weather. Both WVU and the Longhorns will be coming into the February 20th West Virginia at Texas pick after a week off.
West Virginia also visits Austin following a loss, but the 91-90 defeat to Oklahoma was a downright battle. Derek Culver dropped in 29 points, but the Mountaineers shot just 11-21 from the free throw line and 7-24 from three and still lost by just a point. Culver also grabbed 16 boards in the first meeting with Texas so he’ll be a player to watch on Saturday.
West Virginia can run up the score in this one, and not just because they pumped in 90 (in OT) last time out against Oklahoma’s top 5 Big 12 defense. The Mountaineers are 2nd in the conference behind only Baylor, putting up 77.5 ppg. The dominant Culver isn’t even the leading scorer for Bob Huggins’ squad, as Miles McBride is pumping in 16.2 from the back court.
Texas Ready to Get Back Too
The Longhorns are looking for the season sweep on Saturday, trying to stretch their winning streak to three games in the series. Aside from the 2-point win in Morgantown in early January, Texas also 67-57 win at home a year ago as +5 point underdogs.
Shaka Smart’s squad has also had the past week off as weather befitting Alaska swept through the Longhorn State. Texas has only played one game in the last 11 days, dominating TCU 70-55 but as -12 point favorites. The Big 12 is jacked this year, but Texas is still just 3-4 over their last 7.
One thing Texas can exploit is West Virginia’s 8th ranked defense in the Big 12. The Longhorns have four players putting up at least 11 points/game, and Andrew Jones has knocked in 17+ in four straight. The betting total for this one is up there at 146.
Free February 20th West Virginia at Texas Pick
Do you always take the team to even up the series after they’ve lost at home earlier in the year? A slight 53% of the public likes the Mountaineers here, and the line has dropped from a -3.5 Texas open. There’s no fans in attendance here, and the Longhorns are just mediocre on their own court this year (7-4). WVU for the upset.
West Virginia 74 – Texas 70
Free Pick: West Virginia +2.5
