The Texas Tech Red Raiders will travel to Indianapolis, Indiana to face the Butler Bulldogs at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Thursday evening with the game scheduled to start at 6:30 PM ET and will air on Fox Sports 1.

The Red Raiders enter this game with a record of 5-1 and are on a two-game winning streak following wins against the Northern Iowa Panthers by a score of 72-70 and the Michigan Wolverines by a score of 73-57 in the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament in which Texas Tech finished in 5^th place with the lone loss in the tournament coming in the 1^st round against the eventual tournament winner, the Villanova Wildcats, by a score of 69-85. 

The defensive play from Texas Tech has been one of the main reasons for their early season success as they enter this game allowing an average of 60.67 points per game which is the 18^th fewest points per game allowed in college basketball. However, Texas Tech likes to play at a slower tempo which has also led them to being a below-average scoring team as they enter this game averaging 69.33 points per game. The Texas Tech Red Raiders will be looking to extend their winning streak to three games when they travel to face the Butler Bulldogs on Thursday evening.

The Butler Bulldogs enter this game with a record of 5-2 and are on a two-game winning streak following wins against the Penn State Nittany Lions by a score of 88-78 and the Boise State Broncos by a score of 70-56 to finish in 5^th place in the 2023 ESPN Events Invitational with their lone loss coming in the opening round against the eventual tournament winner, the Florida Atlantic Owls, by a score of 86-91. 

Butler has been an above-average scoring team while playing above-average defensively as they enter this game averaging 80.57 points per game while allowing an average of 65.29 points per game. Pierre Brooks has played a pivotal role in the success that Butler has had in the early part of the season as he leads the team in scoring with an average of 16.7 points per game. Butler will be looking to win their 3^rd game in a row when they host the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

BookMaker has the Butler Bulldogs listed as 1.5-point favorites at home against the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Thursday evening. Butler has won both games in the series while going 2-0 ATS in those contests with the last meeting occurring in the 2016 NCAA Tournament which resulted in a 71-61 win for the Butler Bulldogs. 

The Texas Tech Red Raiders are 2-4 ATS overall and 1-1 ATS as an underdog this season while the Butler Bulldogs are 6-1 ATS overall, 3-0 ATS at home, and 3-0 ATS as a favorite on the year.

Texas Tech enters this game with a better record, however, Butler has been the better team in the series winning both games all-time. The Bulldogs are 2-0 ATS all-time in the series while also being the better team at covering the spread this season as they are 6-1 ATS overall and 3-0 ATS as a favorite while the Red Raiders are 2-4 ATS overall and 1-1 ATS as an underdog. As a result, I am buying the .5 point and laying the point with the Butler Bulldogs when they host the Texas Tech Red Raiders.