2022 NCAA Tournament First Round: No. 5 Houston Cougars vs. No. 12 Alabama Birmingham Blazers
How to Watch:
- Date: Friday, March 18
- Time: 9:20 p.m. ET
- Location: PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, PA
- TV: TNT
- Live Stream: NCAA.com
Tale of the Tape:
| No. 5 HOU | STAT | No. 12 UAB |
| American | Conference | Conference USA |
| 29-5 | Record | 27-7 |
| 75.8 (62nd) | Points Per Game | 80.7 (7th) |
| 58.9 | Points Allowed Per Game | 66.3 |
| 0.6335 (8th) | RPI | 0.5786 45th) |
| 93rd | Strength of Schedule | 175th |
| Automatic Bid | Bid | Automatic Bid |
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Houston leaders:
- Kyler Edwards, G, SR: 16.6 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 3.2 APG, 1.0 SPG
- Fabian White Jr., F, SR: 13.2 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 1.1 SPG, 1.5 BPG, 50.7% FG
Alabama Birmingham leaders:
- Jordan Walker, G, JR: 20.4 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 4.8 APG, 1.5 SPG, 40.6% 3PT
- Quan Jackson, G, SR: 12.0 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 2.0 APG, 2.4 SPG, 39.4% 3PT
Odds, Lines, and Past Performance:
- HOU Moneyline: -400
- UAB Moneyline: +300
- Spread: HOU -8.5
- Over/Under: 136
- ATS Record: HOU 22-12, UAB 18-13-1
- Over/Under Record: HOU 14-18-2, UAB 21-10-1
Odds courtesy of Draftkings. For the latest odds, click here.
The Pick:
- The Cougars may be a 5-seed, but don’t be surprised if this team makes a run at the title. Yes, it didn’t get much help with their draw, and, yes, they are without two of their best point guards, but they’ve played through that all season and come into the tournament as KenPom’s 5th-ranked team.
- The Cougars play a molasses-slow pace, ranking 338th in the country, which is something the Blazers will try to speed up since they play at the 80th-ranked adjusted tempo in the league.
- It’s hard to bet on the underdog to dictate pace against a team that has only lost two games since December 11th. We know that the Blazers will rely on Jordan Walker, but we also know that this is a Cougars team that has the 11th-ranked defense in the country and will most certainly come in with a plan of attack.
- This Cougars team is really bad from the free-throw line, ranking 320th in the country at 66.9%, which likely won’t hurt them in this game, but is something to keep in mind if they advance.
