Houston Cougars play the Northern Kentucky Norse in first round of NCAA Tournament

Northern Kentucky Norse (22-12, 14-6 Horizon League) vs. Houston Cougars (31-3, 17-1 AAC)

Birmingham, Alabama; Thursday, 9:20 p.m. EDT

FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Houston -18.5; over/under is 121

BOTTOM LINE: The No. 2 Houston Cougars play in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament against the Northern Kentucky Norse.

The Cougars have gone 17-1 against AAC teams, with a 14-2 record in non-conference play. Houston is 1-0 when it turns the ball over less than its opponents and averages 9.4 turnovers per game.

The Norse's record in Horizon League play is 14-6. Northern Kentucky ranks ninth in the Horizon League scoring 28.5 points per game in the paint led by Chris Brandon averaging 6.0.

TOP PERFORMERS: J'wan Roberts is averaging 10.4 points and 7.7 rebounds for the Cougars. Marcus Sasser is averaging 2.8 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Houston.

Marques Warrick is averaging 19.1 points for the Norse. Sam Vinson is averaging 2.1 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Northern Kentucky.

LAST 10 GAMES: Cougars: 9-1, averaging 74.1 points, 36.8 rebounds, 15.2 assists, 8.7 steals and 4.0 blocks per game while shooting 43.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 58.7 points per game.

Norse: 7-3, averaging 69.7 points, 29.5 rebounds, 13.1 assists, 8.2 steals and 2.8 blocks per game while shooting 43.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 64.9 points.

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