Arizona Wildcats vs Cincinnati Bearcats Prediction, 1/4/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Arizona Wildcats vs Cincinnati Bearcats

Date: Saturday, January 4, 2025

Location: Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati, OH

TV: ESPN+

Fifth Third Arena is where the Cincinnati Bearcats (10-2) will attempt to beat the Arizona Wildcats (7-5) on Saturday.

The Arizona Wildcats faced TCU and earned the victory with a final of 90-81 in their last contest. When discussing fouls, the Wildcats walked away with 16 and TCU recorded 16 fouls. They also buried 9 out of their 23 shots from downtown. TCU went 77.8% at the charity stripe by making 14 of their 18 shots. Furthermore, TCU totaled 26 rebounds (11 offensive, 15 defensive), but didn't notch a rejection. TCU distributed 15 dimes and had 5 steals in the game. When talking about the defense, Arizona allowed the other team to go 46.0% from the field on 29 out of 63 shooting. They also dished out 28 assists for this game while forcing the other team into 8 turnovers and getting 7 steals. With regard to grabbing rebounds, they collected 27 with 7 of them being of the offensive variety. At the free throw line, the Wildcats made 17 of their 21 tries for a percentage of 81.0%. Arizona ended with a 56.9% field goal percentage (33 of 58) and knocked down 7 of 22 shots from distance.

Caleb Love is someone who was a major contributor in the game. He finished the game shooting 64.7% from the floor and totaled 7 dimes. He saw the court for 38 minutes played and collected 7 rebounds. He ended up with 33 points on 11 out of 17 shooting.

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Arizona will play this contest with a record of 7-5 so far this year. They currently have an average of 85.9 pts per contest (19th in college hoops) while shooting 48.9% from the field. The Wildcats are connecting on 30.8% on shots beyond the perimeter (81 of 263) and 75.3% from the charity stripe. As a team, Arizona is pulling in 42.2 boards per contest and has racked up 218 dimes this season, which ranks 82nd in D-1 in terms of passing. They are turning it over 12.2 times per contest and as a group are committing 17.1 personal fouls on a nightly basis.

On defense, the Wildcats are forcing 14.1 turnovers per contest and they draw 18.8 fouls. They rank 109th in D-1 in giving up assists to the opposition with 159 conceded so far this year. The Wildcats defense is allowing an opponent shooting percentage of 39.7% (282 of 710) and they surrender 30.7 boards per contest as a unit. They give up 33.8% on 3-point attempts and they are 116th in Division 1 in points per game allowed (68.8).

When they last stepped on the court, the Cincinnati Bearcats took a loss by a score of 70-67 when they faced Kansas State. In relation to rebounds, Cincinnati allowed Kansas State to collect 27 in all (6 offensive). They went 30.0% from downtown by shooting 6 out of 20 and ended up going 16 of 20 at the free throw line (80.0%). The Bearcats permitted Kansas State to make 24 out of 55 attempts from the field which gave them a rate of 43.6% for the contest. Overall, the Bearcats finished shooting 28 for 60 from the floor which had them at 46.7%. When it comes to shots from 3-point land, Cincinnati converted 7 of their 19 tries (36.8%). They were able to bury 4 of those for a percentage of 57.1%. Kansas State had 8 fouls for this contest which took the Bearcats to the charity stripe for a total of 7 tries. They turned it over 14 times, while getting 8 steals for this game. The Bearcats were able to corral 23 defensive boards and 10 offensive rebounds for a total of 33 in this game.

Daniel Skillings Jr. was important for the Bearcats in the matchup. He knocked down 7 out of 15 for this contest giving him a rate of 46.7%, and had 2 rebounds. He totaled 18 points in his 32 minutes of playing time and earned 1 assist for the contest.

Cincinnati has a win-loss mark of 10-2 for the year. The Bearcats commit 13.5 fouls per contest while shooting 65.0% from the free throw line. They are earning an assist 16.3 times per game (77th in Division 1) and they are giving up possession 9.8 times per game. Cincinnati has earned 941 pts for the year (78.4 per contest) and they grab 38.4 rebounds per contest. When it comes to executing on offense, the Bearcats are connecting on 48.5% from the floor, which is 55th in the nation.

The Bearcats on the defensive side of the court are 9th in D-1 in points allowed per game with 59.5. They are able to force 12.9 turnovers per game and have allowed teams to shoot 38.0% from the floor (15th in the country). The Cincinnati defense gives up 27.7% on 3-pointers (62 of 224) and their opponents are knocking down 75.9% of their shots from the charity stripe. They surrender 10.6 assists and 30.9 boards per contest, ranking them 37th and 31st in Division 1.

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Cincinnati

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