West Virginia Mountaineers vs Cincinnati Bearcats Prediction, 2/2/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: West Virginia Mountaineers vs Cincinnati Bearcats

Date: Sunday, February 2, 2025

Location: Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati, OH

TV: ESPN+

The West Virginia Mountaineers (13-7) are hitting the road to Fifth Third Arena on Sunday where they will try to beat the Cincinnati Bearcats (12-8).

The West Virginia Mountaineers stepped onto the hardwood against Houston and took a loss by a score of 63-49 in their last contest. West Virginia finished having earned a 46.5% field goal percentage (20 of 43) and knocked down 4 of their 18 shots from downtown. From the charity stripe, the Mountaineers buried 5 of 11 tries for a percentage of 45.5%. When talking about grabbing boards, they earned a total of 17 with 3 of them being offensive. They also recorded 11 dimes for this game as well as forcing the other team into 13 turnovers and having 6 steals. When discussing defense, West Virginia let their opponent shoot 48.1% from the floor on 25 of 52 shooting. Houston dished out 8 assists and had 5 steals in this game. Additionally, Houston grabbed 31 rebounds (11 offensive, 20 defensive), but didn't notch a rejection. Houston finished the game shooting 100.0% from the charity stripe by knocking down 6 of their 6 shots. They also converted 7 out of their 18 attempts from beyond the arc. When talking about fouls, the Mountaineers left the arena with 11 and Houston totaled 13 fouls.

Joseph Yesufu is a player who came through in this game. He finished the game at 66.7% from the field and also totaled 2 assists. He saw the court for 24 minutes and grabbed 2 boards. He recorded 9 points on 4 out of 6 shooting.

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West Virginia will enter this game with a record of 13-7 on the season. They are averaging 70.1 points per game (284th in the country) while going 42.5% from the floor. The Mountaineers are connecting on 32.7% on shots from downtown (177 of 542) and 74.7% from the charity stripe. As a unit, West Virginia is pulling in 33.8 boards per game and has accounted for 268 assists for the year, which ranks 263rd in the country in terms of passing the rock. They turn it over 10.8 times per contest and as a squad they are committing 16.6 fouls every game.

On defense, the Mountaineers have forced 13.4 turnovers every game and they draw 15.0 personal fouls. They rank 13th in college hoops in giving up assists with 204 surrendered for the season. The Mountaineers defense is giving up a field goal percentage of 40.4% (457 of 1,130) and they surrender 37.0 rebounds per game as a team. They give up 28.9% from 3-point land while they are 21st in the nation in points per game from their opponents (64.3).

When they last stepped on the court, the Cincinnati Bearcats took a loss by a score of 69-66 when they faced Utah. The Bearcats collected 15 defensive boards and 6 offensive boards totaling 21 in this game. They also gave up possession 6 times, while recording 12 steals in the matchup. Utah committed 19 personal fouls for the matchup which took the Bearcats to the charity stripe for 22 shots. They were able to make 14 of the free throw tries for a percentage of 63.6%. Regarding shooting from distance, Cincinnati made 8 of 22 tries (36.4%). When the final whistle blew, the Bearcats went 22 for 56 from the field which gave them a rate of 39.3%. The Bearcats allowed Utah to make 26 out of their 49 attempts from the field which had them at 53.1% for the game. They finished 38.5% from behind the 3-point line via 5 out of 13 and walked away from this one shooting 12 out of 17 at the charity stripe (70.6%). When it comes to rebounding, Cincinnati allowed Utah to pull down 36 in all (8 offensive).

Jizzle James ended up being a major contributor for the Bearcats in this game. He accumulated 18 points in his 31 mins of playing time and had 2 dimes in the game. He made 6 of 13 for the contest for a field goal percentage of 46.2%, and tallied 3 rebounds.

Cincinnati has a record of 12-8 for the year. As an offensive team, the Bearcats are hitting on 44.8% from the floor, which is 184th in the nation. Cincinnati has totaled 1,420 points on the year (71.0 per contest) and they average 35.9 boards per game. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 14.2 times per contest (149th in college) and they cough up possession 9.8 times per game. The Bearcats commit 13.9 fouls every game and they shoot 64.5% from the charity stripe.

The Bearcats defensively are ranked 14th in D-1 in PPG surrendered with 63.0. They are able to force 12.8 turnovers per game and have let teams shoot 40.5% from the field (46th in college hoops). The Cincinnati defense surrenders 30.6% on shots from behind the 3-point line (115 of 376) and their opponents are connecting on 75.8% of their shots from the free throw line. They give up 11.2 assists and 33.5 rebounds per contest, which has them ranked 50th and 129th in D-1.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Cincinnati

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