Houston Baptist vs Lamar Prediction College Basketball Picks 1/4/25

The Houston Christian Huskies and the Lamar Cardinals meet Saturday in college basketball action from Montagne Center. Here’s a Houston Christian vs Lamar prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Houston Christian vs Lamar pick. We will examine:

The Houston Christian Huskies’ recent form and player performance

The Lamar Cardinals’ recent form and player performance

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Houston Christian Huskies

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Lamar Cardinals

Recent betting trends in games played between Houston Christian and Lamar

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Houston Christian vs Lamar game

Houston Christian Huskies Betting Preview

Houston Christian’s season kicked off on a 2-2 stretch featuring losses to Texas and Creighton in between wins over Avila and Rockford in that quartet. The Huskies would then hit the skids on a four-game losing streak versus Rice, Eastern Michigan, Northern Arizona, and UTSA before finally picking up another win versus East Texas A&M to start off December. Houston Christian is just 1-3 since then, however. The lone win came versus Louisiana-Monroe. Otherwise, it’s been losses to Northwestern State, Texas A&M, and North Texas for a 4-9 run.

In the North Texas game way back on December 22, the Huskies came out of halftime looking at a 30-23 deficit. Houston Christian didn’t end up getting any closer, falling further behind in a 32-23 second half and limping to a 62-46 loss. The only team player to finish in double-figures was Julian Mackey with 14 points, one steal, and one rebound. Starters Bryson Dawkins and Elijah Brooks each turned in seven points, combining for seven rebounds and three assists. Off the bench, the top scorer for the Huskies was Demari Williams with a modest four points.

Lamar Cardinals Betting Preview

Over on the Lamar side, they really started out on a rough run this year, but things have smoothed out significantly since then. The Cardinals hit a 1-5 stretch to kick things off, beating Paul Quinn before losses to Texas A&M, Sam Houston, Akron, Alabama State, and Omaha. Lamar would hit a winning streak over Our Lady of the Lake, Texas A&M-CC, UTRGV, Louisiana, and Southern Miss in the next five games. Following another loss to Texas Tech, Lamar got back in the win column versus Texas A&M-San Antonio in their last outing.

On December 30 versus Texas A&M-San Antonio, the Cards went into the locker room with a comfortable 44-29 halftime edge. Lamar set the pace the rest of the way on 38 more points and cruised to the rather routine win 82-65. Alexis Marmolejos was the leading team scorer with 17 points and three boards. Cody Pennebaker nearly doubled on nine points, 14 boards, and seven assists, while Ja’Sean Jackson turned in 15 points with five assists and three rebounds. Topping the bench players was Errol White with 12 points and three boards.

Why the Lamar Cardinals will win

• Houston Christian has lost each of its last nine road night games against Conference opponents.
• The home team has won each of the last four games between Houston Christian and Lamar.
• Lamar has won the first half in seven of its last eight night games at Neches Arena against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Houston Christian vs Lamar Prediction

I’ll stay with Lamar. Frankly, there’s not a lot to get excited about here, but it’s a good matchup if you’re a Lamar fan as it’ll be a prime opportunity to put some more distance between the team and a .500 record. In any case, the Cardinals didn’t have a ton of issues versus Texas A&M-San Antonio in their last game, shooting 48.5 percent from the field with 47 rebounds and 25 team assists. The 14 turnovers were just about the only major blemish. During this 6-1 run, Lamar has notched 69 or more points in all but one win (65 versus Texas A&M-CC) and should score pretty well here if all goes according to plan.

As for Houston Christian, they shot just 34.1 percent from the field in their latest loss to North Texas, and they’ve been off the court for quite a while (December 22). The Huskies have been below 58 points in three of the last four, so I don’t see them starting well or keeping a good pace on Saturday.