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Arizona should only be a -1 point favorite versus Houston in this Sweet 16 game. The books opened at -2.
Houston went on to knock Illinois out of the tournament.
The 68-53 win was among the more dominant of the past weekend.
Taze Moore scored 21 points and Jamal Shead added 18 as the Cougars, a Final Four team last season, advanced in the South Region of the NCAA Tournament with a 68-53 win Sunday over Illinois, ousted in the opening weekend for the second straight year.
The fifth-seeded Cougars (31-5) are making another serious run at a national title despite losing their two best players to season-ending injuries. Now, with a trio of transfers and a defense with some serious teeth, they're headed home to Texas for the next round — in San Antonio, against either Arizona or TCU.
“It’s our heart,” Shead said when asked about this team's toughness. "We don’t want to lose. We want to win for each other. We love each other so much, these guys are like my brothers, you know, it goes way beyond basketball.
“We want to keep it going as long as we possibly can.”
As an underdog dating back to 2016, Houston is 5-9 (35.7%) Straight Up.
Kyler Edwards added 15 points for Houston, a team often overlooked but making major noise again this March.
Number one seed Arizona, meanwhile, knocked off TCU 85-80.
Bennedict Mathurin made a 3-pointer to force overtime and then scored six more points in the extra session. Mathurin, the Pac-12 Player of the Year and a second-team AP All-American selection, finished with 30 points.
Christian Koloko added 28 points and 12 rebounds, including a putback dunk that slammed the door on the Horned Frogs with 9 seconds left in OT.
The Wildcats were one of the teams seeing early lopsided action of better than 75% on the spread.
- Dan Shapiro, Gambling911.com
