Three games remain in the 2020-21 regular season for the Mountaineers men’s basketball team. WVU vs. TCU on Tuesday looks like a well-earned reprieve for West Virginia.
No. 10 WVU just finished a slate of four consecutive games against ranked opponents. The Horned Frogs break up that streak before the Mountaineers face No. 2 Baylor on Thursday, also juxtaposing West Virginia as a comfortable favorite in the betting odds.
Here are the odds for today’s men’s college basketball action at West Virginia sportsbooks:
Will WVU vs. TCU prove an easier win for West Virginia?
Due to COVID-19 testing protocols, this is the first and will be the only meeting of these two Big 12 opponents this season. The game that was supposed to take place in Morgantown between these teams was postponed and never rescheduled.
While it’s true that the home team has won each of the last six games in this series outright, don’t expect that streak to continue Tuesday night. The game tips off at 7 p.m. EST on ESPN2.
TCU has dropped four of its last six games, failing to score 60 points in half of those contests. To be fair, the Horned Frogs did go 2-1 at Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena in those games, netting at least 78 points in both victories.
The Mountaineers should prove a higher class of opponent, however. WVU has averaged over 83 points per game in its last six contests. It won four of those, and it took Oklahoma overtime to hand West Virginia one of those two losses by a single point.
But will the Mountaineers cover that 7.5-point spread? The raw percentage for WVU covering it on the season is just 42.9, but 7.5 points is a sizable spread in college basketball.
In a larger sample, West Virginia averages about nine more points per game than the Horned Frogs. That’s relevant data for the total market on this game.
How do TCU’s offensive struggles affect the total?
This season, taking the over on Mountaineers games has paid off more often than not. The over is 12-9 in WVU games this season and on a run of hitting in seven straight contests.
With the total on this game sitting around 146 depending on which West Virginia sports betting app you’re on, that means coach Bob Huggins’ crew might have to do some heavy lifting if TCU just hits its average on the season.
Consider the last time WVU faced an unranked conference opponent on the road (at Kansas State on Jan. 23) for some context. West Virginia won that game by 22 points, and the total hit 146 exactly.
If the Mountaineers start off with a comfortable lead, the under here becomes a real probability. Horned Frogs games have gone under in two of TCU’s past five, including each of the past two contests.
As long as WVU doesn’t get caught looking past the Horned Frogs to Baylor, they should get their 16th win of the season here. How competitive TCU makes this game will determine the markets on both the spread and total.
