Louisville Cardinals vs Pittsburgh Panthers Prediction, 1/17/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Louisville Cardinals vs Pittsburgh Panthers

Date: Saturday, January 17, 2026

Location: Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, PA

TV: ESPN+

The Louisville Cardinals (12-5) are hitting the road to Petersen Events Center on Saturday where they will take on the Pittsburgh Panthers (8-9).

The Louisville Cardinals faced Virginia and went home with a loss by a final score of 79-70 in their last game. When it comes to fouls, the Cardinals ended up walking away with 21 and Virginia finished the game with 22 fouls. They made 14 of 34 attempts from 3-point range. Virginia finished shooting 79.3% from the charity stripe by making 23 of 29 attempts. Moreover, Virginia had 42 boards (12 offensive, 30 defensive), but wrapped up the game with no rejections. Virginia recorded 15 assists and had 4 steals in this matchup. In reference to defending, Louisville allowed the other team to shoot 39.6% from the floor on 21 out of 53 shooting. They also dished out 13 assists for the contest in addition to creating 13 turnovers and earning 8 steals. When it comes to grabbing rebounds, they compiled 33 with 14 of them being on the offensive end. At the charity stripe, the Cardinals buried 12 of 18 tries for a percentage of 66.7%. Louisville walked away from the game with a 35.8% field goal percentage (24 out of 67) and converted 10 of their 38 shots from downtown.

Isaac McKneely is someone who was a major factor for this contest. He finished the contest at 43.8% from the field but didn't record an assist. He played for 38 mins played and totaled 5 rebounds. He finished with 23 points on 7 of 16 shooting.

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Louisville enters this contest with a record of 12-5 for the campaign. They are averaging 87.2 pts per game (27th in Division 1) while hitting 46.1% from the field. The Cardinals are connecting on 34.3% on shots from 3-point land (199 of 581) and 76.8% from the charity stripe. As a team, Louisville is pulling in 41.6 boards per game and has 298 assists on the season, which ranks 53rd in Division 1 in terms of passing. They are losing possession via turnover 11.5 times per contest and as a group they commit 19.8 personal fouls per game.

On defense, the Cardinals are able to force 12.8 turnovers every game and they draw 19.4 personal fouls. They surrender 32.3% on shots from distance and they rank 96th in college hoops in points per game from their opponents (70.2). The Cardinals are giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 39.3% (399 of 1,014) and they concede 34.2 rebounds per game as a group. They are currently ranked 38th in the country in giving up assists to their opponents with 191 surrendered for the season.

The last time they took the court, the Pittsburgh Panthers got the victory with a final of 89-66 against Georgia Tech. The Panthers were able to corral 23 defensive rebounds and 9 offensive rebounds for a total of 32 for the matchup. They coughed up the ball 9 times, while recording 12 steals in the game. Georgia Tech was called for 10 personal fouls for the matchup which got the Panthers to the charity stripe for 12 attempts. They were able to bury 10 of the free throw tries for a clip of 83.3%. In regard to shots from beyond the arc, Pittsburgh knocked down 11 of 26 attempts (42.3%). At the conclusion of this game, the Panthers finished shooting 34 for 64 from the field which gave them a rate of 53.1%. The Panthers permitted Georgia Tech to make 24 of 60 attempts from the floor which gave them a rate of 40.0% in this matchup. They went 40.0% from beyond the perimeter by shooting 8 out of 20 and finished the game at 10 out of 15 at the free throw line (66.7%). When talking about rebounds, Pittsburgh permitted Georgia Tech to snag 31 overall (11 on the offensive glass).

Brandin Cummings ended up being a major contributor for the Panthers in this game. He had 29 points in his 33 minutes of playing time and accumulated 3 assists in this matchup. He made 11 of 17 for the contest giving him a rate of 64.7%, and tallied 1 rebound.

Pittsburgh has a mark of 8-9 this year. The Panthers are responsible for committing 17.3 personal fouls per game and they connect on 69.7% from the free throw line. They are earning an assist 13.4 times per game (249th in Division 1) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 11.1 times per game. Pittsburgh has earned 1,260 points for the campaign (74.1 per contest) and they pull down 34.6 boards per game. As an offense, the Panthers are shooting 45.9% from the floor, which is 159th in D-1.

The Pittsburgh defense surrenders 33.9% on three-point shots (120 of 354) and their opponents are knocking down 76.5% of their shots from the free throw line. They concede 12.2 assists and 31.8 rebounds per contest, ranking them 85th and 53rd in those categories on the defensive end. The Panthers on the defensive side of the court are 79th in college in points per game surrendered with 69.4. They have forced 11.4 turnovers on a nightly basis and allow teams to shoot 43.8% from the floor (191st in college hoops).

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Louisville

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