After surviving a late rally by the Syracuse Orange in the opening round of the Legends Classic in a close 70-66 win in the second half yesterday, Texas basketball is looking for a win in Brooklyn on Nov. 22.
Texas (4-1,0-0 SEC) faces the Saint Joseph's Hawks (4-1, 0-0 A-10) on Friday evening with a shot to win the final of the Legends Classic in Brooklyn, NY, at the Barclays Center.
Head coach Rodney Terry and the Longhorns fended off a second-half upset scare against Syracuse in the first game of the Legends Classic to advance to the championship game on Nov. 22. Texas once led Syracuse by 16 points early in the second half on Thursday night, but the Orange rallied back to take the lead at one point late in the game with under five minutes to go.
Saint Joseph's advanced to the championship match of the Legends Classic after holding off the Texas Tech Red Raiders in a thrilling one-point victory on Nov. 21. Texas nearly had a final round matchup against its former Big 12 foe Texas Tech, but Saint Joseph's was able to hold off a furious second-half comeback effort by the Red Raiders for the 78-77 victory.
Here's a look at the TV/streaming information, game time, betting odds, and game prediction for the game between Texas and Saint Joseph's in the championship matchup of the Legends Classic at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY, on Nov. 22.
How to watch Texas basketball vs. Saint Joseph's
TV: ESPNU
Live Stream: WatchESPN
Radio/Audio Stream: Longhorn Radio Network
Game time: 8:30 p.m. CT
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Kevin Brown and Jay Williams will be the broadcast team for the second straight game in the Legends Classic on ESPNU for Texas-Saint Joseph's on Nov. 22. Craig Way and Eddie Oran will call the radio broadcast live for this game on Longhorn Radio Network.
Texas basketball vs. Saint Joseph's betting odds
Texas is a 7.5-point favorite against Saint Joseph's in the Legends Classic on Nov. 22 (per FanDuel). The over/under is 149.5 points. The Longhorns are favored in the moneyline (-320) against Saint Joseph's (+260).
Texas is 2-3-0 against the spread this season (per TeamRankings). Saint Joseph's is 3-2-0 against the spread.
Texas vs. Saint Joseph's prediction
A large part of the reason why the Longhorns struggled to put Syracuse away in the second half of yesterday's opening-round game in the Legends Classic was the cold shooting performance from freshman guard Tre Johnson. In the second half, Johnson shot just 1-of-11 from the field and 0-of-3 from beyond the arc.
Johnson nailed some clutch free throws late in the second half, though, to help the Longhorns ultimately secure the four-point victory over Syracuse late.
Senior forward Arthur Kaluma also scored a team-high 16 points, while raking in his second double-double of the regular season (16 points and 10 boards).
If the Longhorns can get Johnson back in a good rhythm on the offensive end of the floor against Saint Joseph's, it should be a good outing for Texas tonight in the Legends Classic final. Texas has got consistent production on both ends of the floor early this regular season from Kaluma and senior big man Kadin Shedrick. I expect that to continue in this game against the Hawks tonight.