Cincinnati Bearcats vs Houston Cougars Prediction, 1/31/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Cincinnati Bearcats vs Houston Cougars

Date: Saturday, January 31, 2026

Location: Fertitta Center in Houston, TX

TV: FOX

Fertitta Center is the location where the Houston Cougars (18-2) will attempt to beat the Cincinnati Bearcats (11-10) on Saturday.

The Cincinnati Bearcats faced off with Baylor and earned the victory with a final of 67-57 in their last contest. Cincinnati wrapped up the contest having earned a 38.7% FG percentage (24 of 62) and knocked down 8 of their 29 3-pointers. From the free throw line, the Bearcats buried 11 of their 14 attempts for a rate of 78.6%. When it comes to pulling down boards, they compiled 36 with 6 of them being of the offensive sort. They also distributed 15 dimes in this game in addition to forcing 10 turnovers and earning 7 steals. When it comes to defense, Cincinnati allowed 35.4% from the floor on 23 of 65 shooting. Baylor dished out 13 assists and had 5 steals for this game. In addition, Baylor had 38 rebounds (9 offensive, 29 defensive), but wrapped up the game with no rejections. Baylor finished 55.6% at the charity stripe by knocking down 5 of their 9 tries. They made 6 out of their 26 attempts from long range. When talking about personal fouls, the Bearcats walked away with 15 while Baylor recorded 16 personal fouls.

Baba Miller is a guy who was a major factor in this contest. He shot 50.0% from the field and recorded 3 dimes. He played for 37 minutes played and also grabbed 17 rebounds. He totaled 18 points on 6 of 12 shooting.

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Cincinnati comes into this matchup with a mark of 11-10 so far this year. They lose possession via turnover 12.1 times per game and as a team are committing 16.6 personal fouls every game. As a team, Cincinnati is grabbing 37.7 boards per contest and has racked up 353 dimes this year, which is 47th in college in terms of passing the rock. The Bearcats are shooting 29.8% on shots beyond the perimeter (171 of 573) and 66.2% from the charity stripe. They currently have an average of 72.3 points per contest (277th in the nation) while connecting on 42.1% from the field.

Defensively, the Bearcats are forcing 13.8 turnovers every game while drawing 17.2 fouls. They are currently ranked 188th in college hoops in allowing assists with 281 relinquished this season. The Bearcats defensively are allowing an opponent FG percentage of 41.1% (496 of 1,207) and they concede 35.3 rebounds per contest as a group. They concede 32.5% from 3-point land while they are 36th in college hoops in opponents points per game (67.0).

In their last game, the Houston Cougars got the victory with a final of 79-70 when they played TCU. The Cougars were able to pull down 22 defensive rebounds and 6 offensive boards totaling 28 in this game. They turned it over 10 times, while getting 6 steals in the matchup. TCU was called for 21 personal fouls in this contest which took the Cougars to the charity stripe for a total of 24 shots. They were able to make 22 of the free throw tries for a rate of 91.7%. Concerning three-point shots, Houston converted 9 of 23 attempts (39.1%). When the game finished, the Cougars walked away from this one shooting 24 for 54 from the field which had them at 44.4%. The Cougars allowed TCU to make 25 of their 53 attempts from the field which had them shooting 47.2% in this matchup. They finished 26.7% from beyond the perimeter by shooting 4 of 15 and finished the contest at 16 of 25 from the free throw line (64.0%). Concerning team rebounding, Houston allowed TCU to grab 27 in total (6 on the offensive side).

Kingston Flemings was important for the Cougars in this matchup. He buried 8 of 16 for this game for a field goal percentage of 50.0%, and had 5 rebounds. He scored 27 points in his 35 minutes on the court and accumulated 5 assists for this game.

Houston has a mark of 18-2 on the year. The Cougars commit 18.1 personal fouls per contest and they hit 77.7% from the charity stripe. They are assisting teammates 15.6 times per game (100th in the nation) and they are turning it over 8.7 times per game. Houston has earned 1,581 points for the year (79.1 per game) and they snag 37.1 rebounds per game. As an offense, the Cougars are hitting on 45.1% from the floor, which ranks them 197th in D-1.

The Houston defense concedes 31.1% on shots from 3-point land (138 of 444) and their opponents are making 68.1% of their free throw attempts. They give up 11.0 dimes and 33.6 total rebounds per game, which ranks them 30th and 125th in those categories on the defensive end. The Cougars on the defensive side of the court are 3rd in D-1 in PPG given up with 62.1. They are able to force 15.1 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 39.8% from the floor (23rd in Division 1).

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Cincinnati

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