The West Virginia Mountaineers take on the Houston Cougars in Houston, Texas. Tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1.
Houston is favored by 13 points on the spread with a moneyline of -1100. The total is set at 128.5 points.
Here’s my West Virginia vs. Houston predictions and college basketball picks for January 13, 2026.
West Virginia vs Houston Prediction
My Pick: Houston -13 (Play to -14.5)
My West Virginia vs Houston best bet is on the Cougars to cover the spread. For all of your college basketball bets, be sure to find the best lines by using our live NCAAB odds page.
West Virginia vs. Houston Odds
| West Virginia Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+13 -110 | 128.5 -110o / -110u | +700 |
| Houston Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-13 -110 | 128.5 -110o / -110u | -1100 |
- West Virginia vs Houston spread: Houston -13
- West Virginia vs Houston over/under: 128.5 points
- West Virginia vs Houston moneyline: West Virginia +700, Houston -1100
West Virginia vs Houston College Basketball Betting Preview
West Virginia Basketball
West Virginia has shown a ton of resiliency and toughness over the last two games, as the Mountaineers were able to grind out wins over Cincinnati and Kansas in the last six days.
Honor Huff has been a critical piece of the success. He scored 47 points and buried 10 3-point shots in the back-to-back wins.
Chance Moore is seeing his role increase after missing the first five games of the season due to eligibility issues.
West Virginia has a plethora of serviceable role contributors who can bury the outside shot — including Treysen Eaglestaff and Jasper Floyd — but this team has really made its mark on the defensive side.
The Mountaineers rank 55th nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency, per KenPom, and are in the top 35 nationally in defensive field goal percentage, free-throw rate and preventing offensive rebounds.
This is a tough defensive team that can really frustrate the opposition, and its pace of play can keep it in many games in Big 12 play.
Houston Basketball
Houston has played such incredible basketball all season, and the Cougars showed that they can weather the storm on the road in their last game at Baylor. Houston was down eight points early in the game before going on a 71-41 run and completely running Baylor off its home floor.
The strength of this Houston team is the team, rather than one specific individual, but there's no denying Kingston Flemings is a special player. He's such a force for Houston on both ends of the floor and his consistency has been impressive, given that he's just a freshman.
I would imagine this defense continues to perform at a top-10 level nationally, as it has all season. Houston ranks fifth in defensive turnover percentage and sixth in overall adjusted defensive efficiency.
Houston’s ability to contest everything at the 3-point line — while blocking and altering shots in the paint — is a real problem for the opposition.
When Joseph Tugler is on the floor, forget about getting into the paint and finishing at the rim.
West Virginia vs. Houston Betting Analysis
This line opened Houston -12.5 with a total set at 128.5, and I'm going to lay it with Houston.
Houston is very difficult to game plan against if you're an opposing offense trying to break down this defense. West Virginia is likely not going to get a lot of open looks, and I worry about the Mountaineers' ability to take care of the basketball here.
Houston remains relentless defensively and its on-ball pressure is as hard a challenge to deal with as anything West Virginia will face all season. Huff has been streaky this season, but when he goes cold, the entire offense gets shut down –as we saw against Iowa State on the road two weeks ago.
I don’t think we've seen Houston play its best offensive game of the season. The Cougars have struggled at times shooting the ball, but Houston is getting open looks and I expect some regression. Once that happens, Houston is going to be dangerous regardless of its opponent.
Flemings is going to be able to create off the dribble here, and I would expect Milos Uzan and Emanuel Sharp to get more open looks in this one. Sharp leads the team in scoring with 16 points per game, and once he finds his stroke from deep, this offense will become much more potent. We could see that finally happen here.
Houston seems to make these wild runs every game, and it always starts on the defensive end. Holding a team to six points in 10 minutes in either half isn't only common, it's to be expected.
Lets look at some of the runs Houston has gone on over its last four games:
- Middle Tennessee: 18-7 run over nine minutes in the second half
- Cincinnati: 21-11 run over the last 11 minutes; held the Bearcats scoreless over the last 4:00 of the game.
- Texas Tech: 19-7 run over eight minutes in the first half.
- Baylor: 23-4 run over 10 minutes in the first half.
This team goes through stretches where its defense is so locked in and there's nothing you can do about it offensively.
West Virginia is going to have a stretch in this game where it simply can't score, and that's where Houston will separate itself enough to cover this number.
My Pick: Houston -13 (Play to -14.5)
