Houston @ Saint Louis preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 29, 2007 ) Saint Louis 58, Houston 59

Houston coach Kelvin Sampson hopes his team can find some smooth sailing in a true road game on Saturday. The Cougars travel to take on former Conference USA rival St. Louis with the hope of extending their six-game winning streak.

"We are on a six-game winning streak, so obviously we're not mad about that," Sampson told reporters. "However, for us it's a little bit of choppy waters." Sampson was not pleased with 14 first-half turnovers during Wednesday's win against Fairfield - especially after the Cougars led the American Athletic Conference with 9.8 miscues last season. Junior guard Corey Davis Jr. has hit 10-of-19 3-pointers in back-to-back starts for the Cougars. Freshman guard Jordan Goodwin is coming off a career-best 20-point performance as the Billikens snapped their four-game skid with a triumph over Southern Illinois.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, Stadium

ABOUT HOUSTON (7-1): Rob Gray leads the Cougars with 21.3 points while Devin Davis adds 12.6 and a team-best 7.9 rebounds. Corey Davis Jr. adds 9.9 points and 3.3 assists while former starter Wes VanBeck contributes 12 points. The Cougars, who are holding opponents to 65.7 points during the winning streak, have a plus-9.8 advantage in rebounds as four players average at least four.

ABOUT ST. LOUIS (4-4): Junior guard Javon Bess leads the Billikens with 14.5 points and 6.3 rebounds while sophomore forward Jalen Johnson chips in 9.5 points. Goodwin adds 10.6 points and team highs in rebounds (7.1) and assists (four). Freshman Hasahn French, a 6-7 forward, adds 8.4 points, seven rebounds and 2.4 blocked shots for St. Louis.

TIP-INS

1. The Cougars won their first road game by defeating Liberty on its home court during the relocated Paradise Jam and play another next week at LSU.

2. The low-scoring Billikens - who ranked 330th nationally at 64.5 points - posted a 77-71 win against the nation's highest-scoring team in Virginia Tech (96.6 points).

3. Corey Davis Jr. has scored at least 14 points in three of his last four games.

PREDICTION: Houston 75, St. Louis 65