Western Carolina Catamounts vs Cincinnati Bearcats Prediction, 11/3/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Western Carolina Catamounts vs Cincinnati Bearcats

Date: Monday, November 3, 2025

Location: Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati, OH

TV: ESPN+

The Cincinnati Bearcats (19-16 last year) will take on the Western Carolina Catamounts (8-22 last season) at Fifth Third Arena on Monday.

The Western Carolina Catamounts faced off with Mercer and took a loss by a final of 67-66 in their last game. Concerning fouls, the Catamounts finished with 19 while Mercer recorded 13 fouls. They converted 2 of their 20 tries from 3-point land. Mercer shot 84.0% from the free throw line by burying 21 of their 25 shots. Moreover, Mercer grabbed 37 rebounds (7 offensive, 30 defensive), but wasn't able to put a block in the stat sheet. Mercer dished out 12 dimes and had 5 steals for the matchup. When it comes to defense, Western Carolina let their opponent shoot 37.9% from the floor on 22 of 58 shooting. They also doled out 14 assists for this game in addition to forcing the other team into 5 turnovers and getting 3 steals. When discussing hauling in boards, they earned 32 with 4 of them being of the offensive variety. At the charity stripe, the Catamounts buried 10 of their 17 shots for a percentage of 58.8%. Western Carolina wrapped up the game having earned a 40.0% FG percentage (24 out of 60) and buried 8 of 29 3-point shots.

Chevalier Emery is someone who was a major factor in the game. He shot 50.0% from the floor but finished the game without a dime. He was on the hardwood for 28 minutes and totaled 2 rebounds. He ended up scoring 20 points on 7 of 14 shooting.

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Western Carolina will enter this matchup after finishing with a record of 8-22 last year. They averaged 69.7 points per outing (292nd in college hoops) on 39.4% from the floor. The Catamounts hit on 30.5% on three-point shots (272 of 892) and 74.6% from the free throw line. As a team, Western Carolina pulled down 38.4 rebounds per contest and earned 362 dimes throughout last year, which was 334th in the nation in terms of passing the ball. They turned it over 14.0 times per game and as a team committed 17.0 personal fouls every game.

Defensively, the Catamounts forced 10.2 turnovers per game while drawing 14.8 fouls. They were 192nd in college hoops in giving up assists to their opponents with 438 conceded last year. The Catamounts defense allowed a FG percentage of 43.0% (822 of 1,910) and they relinquished 39.1 rebounds per game as a unit. They surrendered 32.4% on shots from beyond the perimeter and they were ranked 339th in college in points per game from their opponents (79.0).

The last time they took the hardwood, the Cincinnati Bearcats took a loss by a final score of 88-80 when they faced UCF. The Bearcats snagged 28 defensive rebounds and 8 offensive rebounds totaling 36 for the contest. They coughed up the ball 11 times, while recording 7 steals in the game. UCF had 14 fouls in this matchup which got the Bearcats to the free throw line for a total of 14 tries. They were able to make 8 of them for a percentage of 57.1%. When discussing three-point shots, Cincinnati buried 12 out of their 34 tries (35.3%). When the final whistle blew, the Bearcats ended up shooting 30 out of 70 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 42.9%. The Bearcats permitted UCF to make 31 out of 66 attempts from the field which had them sitting at 47.0% for the matchup. They finished shooting 33.3% from 3-point land by going 10 out of 30 and finished the game at 16 of 19 at the free throw line (84.2%). With respect to team rebounding, Cincinnati permitted UCF to grab 33 in total (6 on the offensive glass).

Day Day Thomas ended up being a major contributor for the Bearcats for this contest. He earned 19 points in his 29 minutes on the court and tallied 2 assists for this game. He knocked down 7 of 14 in this matchup giving him a rate of 50.0%, and totaled 4 rebounds.

Cincinnati had a record of 19-16 last season. As an offense, the Bearcats shot 44.9% from the floor, which ranked 162nd in college hoops. Cincinnati earned 2,491 pts over the course of last year (71.2 per game) and they grabbed 34.8 boards per game. They assisted teammates 13.9 times per game (158th in college) and they coughed up possession 10.3 times per contest. The Bearcats were responsible for committing 14.2 fouls every game and they went 66.5% from the free throw line.

The Bearcats defensively were ranked 33rd in Division 1 in points allowed per contest with 66.2. They were able to force 13.1 turnovers on a nightly basis and let teams shoot 43.1% from the field (131st in the nation). The Cincinnati defense surrendered 33.0% on shots from distance (228 of 690) and opponents converted on 75.4% of their free throw shots. They surrendered 11.9 assists and 33.6 rebounds per game, which ranked them 69th and 128th in college hoops.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Cincinnati

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