UCF Knights vs. Houston Cougars: How to watch NCAA Basketball online, TV channel, live stream info, start time

Halftime Report

UCF is giving their home crowd exactly what they were hoping for. They have jumped out to a quick 38-30 lead against Houston.

UCF came into the matchup with some extra motivation after the defeat they were dealt the last time these two teams faced off. We’ll see if they’re able to flip the script or if it’ll just be more of the same.

Who’s Playing

Houston Cougars @ UCF Knights

Current Records: Houston 13-3, UCF 12-4

How To Watch

  • When: Saturday, January 18, 2025 at 12 p.m. ET
  • Where: Addition Financial Arena — Orlando, Florida
  • TV: CBS Sports Network
  • Follow: CBS Sports App
  • Watch on Connected TV: CBS Sports App on Roku and Fire TV
  • Live Stream: CBSSports.com or fuboTV (Try for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)
  • Ticket Cost: $3.00

What to Know

UCF will be in front of their home fans on Saturday, but a look at the spread shows they might need that home-court advantage. They and the Houston Cougars will face off in a Big 12 battle at 12:00 p.m. ET at Addition Financial Arena. The Knights have been getting the ball to fall more lately as they’ve increased their point totals each of their last three games.

UCF’s offense and defense might be a bit winded after their high-scoring matchup with Arizona State on Tuesday. UCF came out on top against Arizona State by a score of 95-89.

Keyshawn Hall was a one-man wrecking crew for UCF as he went 13 for 18 en route to 40 points plus seven rebounds and six assists. The dominant performance also gave Hall a new career-high in field goal percentage (72.2%). Another player making a difference was Darius Johnson, who earned 17 points in addition to seven assists and two steals.

UCF was working as a unit and finished the game with 18 assists. The team’s really been improving in that area: they’ve now improved their assist total in four consecutive contests.

Meanwhile, Houston had already won eight in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 25.8 points) and they went ahead and made it nine on Wednesday. They strolled past the Mountaineers with points to spare, taking the game 70-54.

Houston’s victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was J’Wan Roberts, who went 10 for 13 en route to 22 points. The team also got some help courtesy of L.J. Cryer, who earned 18 points.

UCF is on a roll lately: they’ve won eight of their last ten games, which provided a nice bump to their 12-4 record this season. As for Houston, their win was their 27th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 13-3.

Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as both are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. UCF hasn’t had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 79.6 points per game. However, it’s not like Houston struggles in that department as they’ve been averaging 76.6. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.

UCF came up short against Houston in their previous matchup back in March of 2024, falling 67-59. Can UCF avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We’ll find out soon enough.

Odds

Houston is a big 13.5-point favorite against UCF, according to the latest college basketball odds.

The line has drifted a bit towards the Cougars, as the game opened with the Cougars as a 11.5-point favorite.

The over/under is 138.5 points.

See college basketball picks for every single game, including this one, from SportsLine’s advanced computer model. Get picks now.

Series History

Houston has won 9 out of their last 10 games against UCF.

  • Mar 06, 2024 – Houston 67 vs. UCF 59
  • Jan 20, 2024 – Houston 57 vs. UCF 42
  • Jan 25, 2023 – Houston 82 vs. UCF 71
  • Dec 31, 2022 – Houston 71 vs. UCF 65
  • Feb 17, 2022 – Houston 70 vs. UCF 52
  • Jan 29, 2022 – Houston 63 vs. UCF 49
  • Jan 17, 2021 – Houston 75 vs. UCF 58
  • Dec 26, 2020 – Houston 63 vs. UCF 54
  • Jan 03, 2020 – Houston 78 vs. UCF 63
  • Mar 02, 2019 – UCF 69 vs. Houston 64

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