Louisville Cardinals vs Stanford Cardinal Prediction, 1/2/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Louisville Cardinals vs Stanford Cardinal

Date: Friday, January 2, 2026

Location: Maples Pavilion in Stanford, CA

TV: ACC Network

The Stanford Cardinal (11-2) will compete against the Louisville Cardinals (10-2) at Maples Pavilion on Friday.

The Louisville Cardinals faced Montana and took home the win by a score of 94-54 in their last contest. Louisville finished having earned a 52.3% FG percentage (34 of 65) and converted 12 out of their 34 shots from downtown. At the charity stripe, the Cardinals buried 14 of their 19 attempts for a rate of 73.7%. With respect to grabbing rebounds, they earned a total of 46 with 12 of them being of the offensive sort. They also doled out 24 assists in this game in addition to forcing the other team into 19 turnovers and getting 13 steals. In regard to defending, Louisville allowed 32.1% from the floor on 17 out of 53 shooting. Montana doled out 7 dimes and had 9 steals for the game. Furthermore, Montana snagged 24 rebounds (4 offensive, 20 defensive), but finished the game with no rejections. Montana ended up shooting 86.7% when shooting free throws by converting 13 of 15 attempts. They knocked down 7 of 24 shots from 3-point range. In relation to fouls, the Cardinals finished with 15 while Montana had 19 fouls.

Sananda Fru is a player who played a role for the contest. He notched 18 points on 9 out of 11 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 23 minutes and collected 8 rebounds. He finished the contest at 81.8% from the field and also recorded 2 assists.

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Louisville will take the court with a record of 10-2 for the season. They are losing possession via turnover 11.6 times per contest and as a squad they are committing 19.3 fouls per game. As a unit, Louisville is pulling down 42.0 rebounds per contest and has earned 229 assists for the season, which is 39th in D-1 in terms of passing. The Cardinals are connecting on 36.0% from downtown (151 of 420) and 76.5% from the charity stripe. They average 91.6 points per outing (14th in Division 1) while shooting 47.5% from the field.

Defensively, the Cardinals are able to force 14.1 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 19.7 fouls. They are ranked 31st in D-1 in allowing assists with 133 relinquished on the campaign. The Cardinals defense is allowing a FG percentage of 38.6% (281 of 728) and they surrender 33.8 rebounds per game as a unit. They are giving up 30.1% on 3-point shots and they are ranked 71st in college hoops in points per game from their opponents (68.2).

In their last game, the Stanford Cardinal went home victorious with a score of 88-80 when they played Cal State Northridge. The Cardinal pulled down 24 defensive rebounds and 8 offensive rebounds totaling 32 for the contest. They also coughed it up 13 times, while earning 9 steals in the game. Cal State Northridge earned 24 fouls for this game which took the Cardinal to the free throw line for a total of 38 attempts. They were able to bury 27 of the free throw tries for a rate of 71.1%. In relation to shooting from beyond the arc, Stanford converted 11 out of their 27 attempts (40.7%). Overall, the Cardinal went 25 out of 52 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 48.1%. The Cardinal allowed Cal State Northridge to knock down 24 of their 51 tries from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 47.1% for this contest. They wrapped up this game 47.1% from three-point range via 8 out of 17 and finished the contest at 24 of 30 from the free throw line (80.0%). With respect to how they rebounded, Stanford allowed Cal State Northridge to get 28 in all (4 on the offensive glass).

Ebuka Okorie ended up being a factor for the Cardinal for the contest. He knocked down 9 out of 18 for this game for a field goal rate of 50.0%, and had 3 rebounds. He tallied 30 points in his 37 mins of playing time and earned 2 assists for the game.

Stanford has a win-loss record of 11-2 so far this year. The Cardinal are committing 17.6 fouls every game and they shoot 72.3% from the free throw line. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 13.1 times per contest (285th in Division 1) and they turn it over 11.7 times per game. Stanford has totaled 1,064 points for the year (81.8 per contest) and they average 36.2 boards per contest. When it comes to executing on offense, the Cardinal are shooting 44.5% from the floor, which is 242nd in the nation.

The Cardinal defensively are ranked 164th in college hoops in points allowed per contest with 72.3. They are forcing their opponents into 15.2 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 46.4% from the floor (306th in college hoops). The Stanford defense concedes 35.6% on 3-point shots (79 of 222) and opponents are connecting on 77.2% of their free throw attempts. They surrender 10.9 assists and 30.2 rebounds every game, which has them ranked 40th and 24th in the country.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Stanford

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