Houston and Longwood square off in opening round of NCAA Tournament

Longwood Lancers (21-13, 9-10 Big South) vs. Houston Cougars (30-4, 17-4 Big 12)

Memphis, Tennessee; Friday, 9:20 p.m. EDT

FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Cougars -24; over/under is 128

BOTTOM LINE: No. 2 Houston takes on Longwood in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Cougars have gone 17-4 against Big 12 opponents, with a 13-0 record in non-conference play. Houston averages 73.0 points while outscoring opponents by 16.0 points per game.

The Lancers are 9-10 against Big South opponents. Longwood ranks second in the Big South with 39.0 rebounds per game led by Michael Christmas averaging 6.2.

Houston is shooting 43.4% from the field this season, 0.2 percentage points lower than the 43.6% Longwood allows to opponents. Longwood averages 5.8 made 3-pointers per game this season, 0.3 fewer makes per game than Houston gives up.

TOP PERFORMERS: LJ Cryer is averaging 15.3 points for the Cougars. Jamal Shead is averaging 14.0 points over the last 10 games.

Christmas is shooting 41.1% from beyond the arc with 1.1 made 3-pointers per game for the Lancers, while averaging 11.5 points and 6.2 rebounds. Walyn Napper is averaging 15.8 points, 5.2 assists and 1.9 steals over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Cougars: 9-1, averaging 71.7 points, 32.8 rebounds, 12.7 assists, 10.3 steals and 4.4 blocks per game while shooting 43.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 62.4 points per game.

Lancers: 7-3, averaging 76.8 points, 36.3 rebounds, 13.1 assists, 6.9 steals and 2.0 blocks per game while shooting 46.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 71.7 points.

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