Marquette Golden Eagles vs UConn Huskies Prediction, 1/4/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Marquette Golden Eagles vs UConn Huskies

Date: Sunday, January 4, 2026

Location: Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, CT

TV: ESPN+

The Marquette Golden Eagles (5-9) are en route to Gampel Pavilion on Sunday where they will meet the UConn Huskies (13-1).

The Marquette Golden Eagles played Seton Hall and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 79-73 in their last game. In the matter of fouls, the Golden Eagles left the arena with 20 and Seton Hall recorded 16 fouls. They also knocked down 7 of 20 attempts from beyond the arc. Seton Hall walked away from this one shooting 75.9% at the free throw line by making 22 of 29 attempts. On top of that, Seton Hall collected 47 rebounds (18 offensive, 29 defensive), but wasn't able to record a block. Seton Hall recorded 14 dimes and had 5 steals in the matchup. In relation to defending, Marquette let their opponent shoot 39.1% from the field on 25 of 64 shooting. They also doled out 17 assists in the game in addition to forcing 9 turnovers and getting 8 steals. In relation to rebounding, they earned 29 with 9 of them being of the offensive variety. From the free throw line, the Golden Eagles buried 19 of 27 shots for a percentage of 70.4%. Marquette finished the game with a 36.5% field goal percentage (23 of 63) and converted 8 of their 27 shots from 3-point land.

Ben Gold is one guy who was a factor in the matchup. He ended up shooting 45.5% from the field and also earned 2 dimes. He played 36 minutes played and collected 7 boards. He totaled 19 points on 5 of 11 shooting.

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Marquette steps onto the hardwood with a mark of 5-9 so far this season. They currently have an average of 76.6 pts per contest (203rd in the nation) while connecting on 40.8% from the floor. The Golden Eagles are shooting 30.4% on 3-pointers (115 of 378) and 70.6% from the charity stripe. As a unit, Marquette is collecting 36.7 boards per contest and is sitting with 215 assists so far this season, which ranks 112th in D-1 in terms of passing. They are turning it over 11.0 times per contest and as a squad are committing 18.3 fouls every game.

Defensively, the Golden Eagles are forcing their opponents into 14.4 turnovers every game and they draw 18.8 personal fouls. They are currently ranked 326th in Division 1 in giving up assists with 224 surrendered so far this season. The Golden Eagles defensively are giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 44.7% (378 of 846) and they relinquish 38.9 boards per contest as a group. They are relinquishing 34.8% from beyond the arc and they are 279th in college in PPG allowed (77.4).

In their last game, the UConn Huskies got the victory with a final of 90-67 when they played Xavier. The Huskies were able to collect 31 defensive boards and 9 offensive rebounds for a total of 40 in this contest. They turned the ball over 13 times, while getting 8 steals for this game. Xavier was called for 16 fouls for the game which took the Huskies to the free throw line for 14 tries. They were able to knock down 11 of the free throws for a rate of 78.6%. In the matter of three-point attempts, UConn buried 13 out of 28 tries (46.4%). At the conclusion of this game, the Huskies finished shooting 33 out of 62 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 53.2%. The Huskies permitted Xavier to bury 24 of 56 tries from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 42.9% in this contest. They finished shooting 22.2% from 3-point land by hitting 4 of 18 and ended up going 15 out of 22 at the free throw line (68.2%). In regard to team rebounding, UConn permitted Xavier to collect 25 in total (5 on the offensive glass).

Alex Karaban ended up being a major contributor for the Huskies for this game. He knocked down 7 out of 13 for the game for a field goal percentage of 53.8%, and accumulated 7 rebounds. He accumulated 19 points in his 34 mins on the court and totaled 4 assists in this game.

UConn has a win-loss mark of 13-1 for the season. When it comes to executing on offense, the Huskies are hitting on 49.8% from the field, which is 29th in the nation. UConn has tallied 1,110 pts so far this season (79.3 per game) and they pull in 37.0 boards per game. They are dishing out assists 18.7 times per contest (27th in D-1) and they are turning it over 11.0 times per game. The Huskies have committed 18.6 fouls per contest while shooting 70.3% from the free throw line.

The Huskies are ranked 7th in college in points allowed per contest with 61.5. They are forcing 12.9 TO's every game and have let teams shoot 37.5% from the field (12th in college hoops). The UConn defense gives up 26.0% on shots from behind the 3-point line (68 of 262) and opponents are connecting on 73.1% of their free throw attempts. They have allowed 8.9 assists and 30.6 boards on a nightly basis, which has them ranked 3rd and 30th in those categories on the defensive end.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Marquette

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