UT Arlington vs Texas Tech Odds, Pick for Thursday

Below, we have UT Arlington vs. Texas Tech odds and a pick for Thursday.

When Texas Tech and UT Arlington face off on Thursday, both teams will put their winning streaks to the test. The Texas Tech Red Raiders have won three straight games entering this contest, while the UT Arlington Mavericks have won two of their own in a row.

Texas Tech has only won once this season against a KenPom top-100 opponent, and while UT Arlington does not qualify as one, this would be a good win as the Mavericks are ranked 162nd in the country. UT Arlington plays fast, which will be a big test for a Texas Tech offense that loves to slow things down.

Texas Tech has a reputation for having one of the best defenses in the country. The Red Raiders rank 44th in Adjusted Defensive Efficiency and have a significant advantage on that end in this game. UT Arlington is still looking for its first true road win of the year after losing to New Mexico, Arizona and Grand Canyon in true away games.

For UT Arlington, it all starts with tempo. The Mavericks' offense plays the 84th-fastest pace in the country. They love to get out and run, but it requires them to get stops to do so. They are just an average defensive team at 167th in Adjusted Defensive Efficiency, so when they face more talented players, it can be a hard formula for success.

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This makes sense when you look at their results this season. UT Arlington has lost to the four best opponents on its schedule while taking care of business in the other six games. The best offenses they have faced (Arizona, New Mexico and Grand Canyon) all had success playing with pace, with Arizona scoring 101 points in its win.

The Red Raiders don't have a great offense by any means at 61st in Adjusted Offensive Efficiency, per Kenpom, but they do have individual players who can create their own offense in this game. UT Arlington will hope it can get some hot shooting from outside of its own to keep up.

Similar to its opponent here, Texas Tech has taken care of business against all of its overmatched opponents.

Tech's only losses have come to Villanova and Butler (on the road in overtime), but outside of a win against Michigan, Texas Tech has yet to beat a quality opponent. The Red Raiders shoot a lot of 3s, ranking 73rd in the country in 3-point Attempt Rate, but they are just average at making them as a team.

Pop Isaacs and Joe Toussaint are typically the go-to guys for this team, which can be good when both find themselves on a hot scoring night and bad when they are off. Both should be able to get what they want in this game, but UT Arlington's pace could cause them some problems as the game wears on.

This is the type of game that the UT Arlington Mavericks have lost consistently this season, but they have shown they can take better teams down to the wire as they lost by just two points at New Mexico and seven points at Grand Canyon.

Given that precedent and a sleepy Holiday atmosphere, take the underdog Mavericks to cover in Lubbock.

Pick: UT Arlington +14.5