Houston and Gonzaga square off in second round of NCAA Tournament

Gonzaga Bulldogs (26-8, 16-4 WCC) vs. Houston Cougars (31-4, 22-1 Big 12)

Wichita, Kansas; Saturday, 8:40 p.m. EDT

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Cougars -5.5; over/under is 140.5

BOTTOM LINE: No. 2 Houston faces No. 24 Gonzaga in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Cougars have gone 22-1 against Big 12 teams, with a 9-3 record in non-conference play. Houston is the leader in the Big 12 in team defense, allowing 57.9 points while holding opponents to 38.1% shooting.

The Bulldogs are 16-4 in WCC play. Gonzaga is 0-2 in games decided by less than 4 points.

Houston's average of 8.1 made 3-pointers per game this season is just 0.8 more made shots on average than the 7.3 per game Gonzaga gives up. Gonzaga has shot at a 50.1% clip from the field this season, 12.0 percentage points greater than the 38.1% shooting opponents of Houston have averaged.

TOP PERFORMERS: LJ Cryer is averaging 15.2 points for the Cougars. Milos Uzan is averaging 14.7 points over the last 10 games.

Graham Ike is averaging 17 points and 7.4 rebounds for the Bulldogs. Khalif Battle is averaging 15.3 points and 1.6 steals over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Cougars: 10-0, averaging 72.1 points, 32.0 rebounds, 9.0 assists, 8.2 steals and 4.3 blocks per game while shooting 44.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 59.5 points per game.

Bulldogs: 9-1, averaging 84.6 points, 33.4 rebounds, 20.4 assists, 7.6 steals and 2.8 blocks per game while shooting 51.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 67.6 points.

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.