How to watch Texas basketball vs. UCF: Odds, matchups, injuries and more

Texas basketball (12-4, 1-2 Big 12) and head coach Rodney Terry return home to the friendly confines of the Moody Center in Austin on Jan. 17 to try and get back on track after a bad loss in Morgantown last weekend. Texas suffered a tough 76-73 loss to a West Virginia Mountaineers squad that was blown out in its previous two Big 12 games.

This matchup on Jan. 17 against head coach Johnny Dawkins and the UCF Knights (10-5, 1-2 Big 12) at the Moody Center in Austin feels like a "must-win" scenario for Terry and the Longhorns. If Texas falls short to UCF, it will drop to 1-3 in conference play before a real gauntlet portion of a four-game stretch arrives in the Big 12 in the next couple of weeks.

UCF has been as up and down as it comes among the new Big 12 teams in conference play this season. Dawkins and the Knights have some of the highest highs of any Big 12 team this season, including a five-point win over the No. 3 Kansas Jayhawks at home on Jan. 10.

But UCF has also been blown out by an unranked Kansas State Wildcats squad by 25 points in its Big 12 opener on the road on Jan. 6.

Texas has to expect the best version of UCF in this contest, though. This might be the only shot the Knights get at the Longhorns as Big 12 foes before Texas leaves for the SEC next year.

Here’s a look at the TV/streaming information and game time as Texas hosts UCF at the Moody Center in Austin on Jan. 17.

How to watch Texas basketball vs. UCF

TV: Longhorn Network

Live Stream: ESPN app

Radio/Audio Stream: Longhorn Radio Network/Sirius XM 199 or 210

Game time: 7 p.m. CT

Live stats: Sidearm Stats

Lowell Galindo and Adrian Branch will call the game between Texas and UCF live on Longhorn Network.

Craig Way and Eddie Oran have the call on the radio broadcast on IMG Longhorn Radio Network.

You can see how to watch Longhorn Network and which TV/subscription packages offer the channel here.

This is the first matchup ever between Texas and UCF on the hardwood.

Texas basketball projected starting lineup vs. UCF

• G: Tyrese Hunter, Junior (12.4 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 4.1 APG)
• G: Max Abmas, Senior (18.0 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 4.4 APG)
• W/F: Brock Cunningham, Senior (5.0 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 2.8 APG)
• F: Dillon Mitchell, Sophomore (11.1 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 1.8 APG)
• C: Dylan Disu, Senior (15.1 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 1.0 APG)

UCF projected starting lineup vs. Texas

• G: Darius Johnson, Junior (14.4 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 3.5 APG)
• G: Jaylin Sellers, Junior (17.5 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 1.0 APG)
• G/W: Shemarri Allen, Senior (7.0 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 2.3 APG)
• F: C.J. Walker, Senior (7.0 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 0.8 APG)
• C: Ibrahima Diallo, Senior (6.8 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 0.5 APG)

Texas basketball injury report vs. UCF

Redshirt junior center Kadin Shedrick has been the most notable Longhorns player who has dealt with injury issues early in Big 12 play. Shedrick missed Texas's road win over the Cincinnati Bearcats on Jan. 9 due to a back injury.

He was also limited to just four minutes off the bench against West Virginia due to the same nagging injury last weekend.

Texas basketball vs. UCF: Prediction and odds for Jan. 17

Texas is an 8.5-point favorite against UCF on Jan. 17, and the Longhorns are favored in the money line (-400) over the Knights (+310), per FanDuel. The over/under is 137.5 points.

UCF is the No. 79 ranked team in adjusted efficiency in Division I, per Kenpom. Texas, meanwhile, ranks 40th in the nation in adjusted efficiency.

Kenpom gives Texas a 75 percent chance of beating UCF and projects the final score of this game to be 73-66 in favor of the Longhorns.

The biggest key to victory is crystal clear for the Longhorns against the Knights, someone else must step up to provide some scoring support beside senior big man Dylan Disu and senior guard Max Abmas.

Disu and Abmas are both averaging at least 20 points per game in conference play for the Longhorns. No other teammates are averaging over a dozen points per game.

And once you look beyond junior guard Tyrese Hunter and sophomore forward Dillon Mitchell (each averaging 11.3 points per game in Big 12 play), the support gets really bleak for the Longhorns.

UCF will try and made this a defensive struggle for the Longhorns in this game. They'll try and limit Disu and Abmas on the offensive end of the floor while working the paint with the length in their frontcourt unit.

If Texas can get some other sources of secondary scoring beside Abmas and Disu and they can play smooth and efficient basketball on the offensive end, this should be a smooth victory against an inconsistent UCF squad.

This game could wind up being the most important win of the early portion of the Big 12 slate for Terry and the Longhorns if they can comfortably defeat UCF at home.

Final score prediction: Texas-68, UCF-62