Niagara Purple Eagles vs West Virginia Mountaineers Prediction, 11/2/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Niagara Purple Eagles vs West Virginia Mountaineers

Date: Monday, November 2, 2026

Location: Hope Coliseum in Morgantown, WV

TV: ESPN+

The Niagara Purple Eagles (8-22 last year) are headed to Hope Coliseum on Monday where they will meet the West Virginia Mountaineers (21-14 last season).

The Niagara Purple Eagles played Merrimack and took a loss by a score of 73-66 in their last game. With respect to fouls, the Purple Eagles finished with 16 while Merrimack totaled 16 fouls. They buried 11 out of their 27 shots from long range. Merrimack finished the game at 92.3% when shooting free throws by burying 12 of their 13 tries. Furthermore, Merrimack snagged 23 rebounds (8 offensive, 15 defensive), but wasn't able to record a block. Merrimack totaled 15 dimes and had 5 steals for the contest. With regard to defending, Niagara allowed the other team to shoot 47.2% from the field on 25 out of 53 shooting. They also distributed 14 dimes in this matchup as well as creating 11 turnovers and having 8 steals. Pertaining to grabbing rebounds, they collected 25 with 7 of them being offensive. At the free throw line, the Purple Eagles buried 17 of 19 shots for a percentage of 89.5%. Niagara wrapped up the game with a 47.7% FG percentage (21 out of 44) and knocked down 7 out of their 18 shots from 3-point land.

Justin Hawkins is a player who was a contributor for this contest. He ended up going 55.6% from the field and dished out 4 dimes. He played 21 mins and also collected 6 boards. He was able to score 18 points on 5 of 9 shooting.

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Niagara will play this game after finishing with a win-loss mark of 8-22 last year. They turned it over 11.9 times per game and as a unit committed 15.2 personal fouls per contest. As a team, Niagara collected 29.2 boards per contest and earned 420 dimes last season, which ranked 250th in Division 1 in terms of passing the rock. The Purple Eagles hit on 33.4% on three-point shots (213 of 638) and 72.5% from the free throw line. They averaged 63.9 points per game (359th in the country) while shooting 44.1% from the field.

On the defensive end, the Purple Eagles forced their opponents into 10.6 turnovers per game and they drew 15.2 fouls. They relinquished 34.8% on three-point shots and they were 104th in college hoops in PPG allowed (71.2). The Purple Eagles defensively gave up an opponent FG percentage of 45.7% (744 of 1,628) and they surrendered 33.6 rebounds per contest as a unit. They were 56th in D-1 in giving up assists to the opposition with 390 conceded last season.

The last time they took the court, the West Virginia Mountaineers walked away with a victory by a final of 89-82 against Oklahoma. In the matter of rebounding, West Virginia allowed Oklahoma to grab 29 in all (7 offensive). They finished shooting 40.0% from 3-point land by connecting on 8 of 20 and finished the contest at 10 of 12 from the free throw line (83.3%). The Mountaineers allowed Oklahoma to make 32 of 60 attempts from the field which had them at 53.3% in the matchup. In all, the Mountaineers went 28 for 60 from the field which gave them a percentage of 46.7%. In relation to shooting from 3-point land, West Virginia made 15 out of their 33 attempts (45.5%). They were able to make 18 of the free throws for a percentage of 78.3%. Oklahoma was called for 18 personal fouls for the contest which took the Mountaineers to the charity stripe for 23 tries. They also gave up possession of the ball 10 times, while getting 7 steals in the game. The Mountaineers corralled 19 defensive rebounds and 6 offensive boards totaling 25 in this game.

Honor Huff pitched in for the Mountaineers in this matchup. He buried 9 out of 19 for the game giving him a rate of 47.4%, but wasn't able to grab a rebound. He racked up 38 points in his 44 minutes on the court and had 4 assists in this game.

West Virginia had a win-loss record of 21-14 last year. The Mountaineers committed 15.5 fouls per game while shooting 68.3% from the free throw line. Their rate of dishing out assists was at 12.8 times per game (257th in the country) and they turned the ball over 11.0 times per contest. West Virginia earned 2,472 points throughout last season (70.6 per contest) and they pulled down 34.7 rebounds per game. When it comes to executing on offense, the Mountaineers shot 44.5% from the floor, which ranked 216th in the country.

The West Virginia defense gave up 34.3% on shots from behind the 3-point line (255 of 744) and their opposition knocked down 72.8% of their shots from the free throw line. They allowed 15.7 assists and 33.4 rebounds per game, which was ranked 238th and 102nd in D-1. The Mountaineers on the defensive side of the court were 14th in college in points allowed per game with 65.7. They were able to force 11.6 TO's per game and allowed teams to shoot 42.0% from the floor (58th in college hoops).

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Niagara

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