Ohio State Buckeyes vs BYU Cougars Prediction, 11/2/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Ohio State Buckeyes vs BYU Cougars

Date: Monday, November 2, 2026

Location: Delta Center in Salt Lake City, UT

TV: FS1

The BYU Cougars (23-12 last season) host the Ohio State Buckeyes (21-13 last year) at Delta Center on Monday.

The Ohio State Buckeyes stepped onto the hardwood against TCU and ended up losing by a score of 66-64 in their last contest. When discussing personal fouls, the Buckeyes ended up walking away with 10 and TCU recorded 13 personal fouls. They also knocked down 9 of 23 shots from distance. TCU walked away from this one shooting 64.3% when shooting free throws by burying 9 of their 14 attempts. On top of that, TCU collected 38 boards (12 offensive, 26 defensive), but couldn't earn a rejection. TCU distributed 12 assists and had 4 steals in this game. In terms of defending, Ohio State allowed 40.0% from the floor on 24 of 60 shooting. They also recorded 18 assists for the matchup as well as forcing 6 turnovers and getting 4 steals. In relation to pulling down rebounds, they earned 28 with 4 of them being offensive. From the free throw line, the Buckeyes converted 10 of 11 attempts for a rate of 90.9%. Ohio State ended the contest with a 42.1% FG percentage (24 out of 57) and knocked down 6 of their 23 three-point attempts.

John Mobley Jr. is someone who was a major contributor for the game. He walked away from this one shooting 35.3% from the floor and dished out 6 assists. He saw the court for 39 mins and also collected 3 rebounds. He racked up 15 points on 6 out of 17 shooting.

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Ohio State heads into this one after finishing with a mark of 21-13 last year. They lost possession via turnover 10.3 times per contest and as a team committed 17.5 fouls every game. As a squad, Ohio State collected 33.2 rebounds per game and accumulated 492 dimes last year, which was 122nd in D-1 in terms of passing the ball. The Buckeyes shot 35.7% on 3-point shots (273 of 764) and 77.7% from the charity stripe. They had an average of 79.3 points per outing (93rd in D-1) while connecting on 49.1% from the field.

When they were on defense, the Buckeyes were able to force 10.5 turnovers per contest while drawing 18.7 fouls. They gave up 31.9% from 3-point land while they were 138th in D-1 in points per game allowed (72.6). The Buckeyes defense gave up an opponent shooting percentage of 43.8% (857 of 1,956) and they conceded 31.4 boards per game as a group. They were 215th in D-1 in giving up assists with 457 relinquished over the course of last year.

In their last game, the BYU Cougars took a loss by a score of 79-71 when they played Texas. Regarding team rebounding, BYU permitted Texas to get 36 overall (14 on the offensive side). They finished 36.4% from three-point range by hitting 8 of 22 and finished the game at 9 of 18 from the free throw line (50.0%). The Cougars permitted Texas to convert 31 of 66 tries from the field which gave them a percentage of 47.0% for the contest. In all, the Cougars finished the game shooting 24 out of 56 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 42.9%. In the matter of shooting from beyond the arc, BYU buried 4 out of their 22 attempts (18.2%). They were able to convert 19 of them for a rate of 79.2%. Texas earned 19 personal fouls for the matchup which got the Cougars to the charity stripe for a total of 24 attempts. They coughed it up 7 times, while earning 6 steals for this game. The Cougars were able to collect 20 defensive boards and 5 offensive boards totaling 25 for the game.

AJ Dybantsa was important for the Cougars in this contest. He earned 35 points in his 40 minutes on the hardwood and tallied 1 assist for the game. He made 11 out of 25 in the matchup giving him a rate of 44.0%, and had 10 rebounds.

BYU had a record of 23-12 last season. The Cougars committed 15.9 fouls per game and they connected on 74.7% from the free throw line. They assisted teammates 13.3 times per game (224th in college) and they coughed up possession 10.7 times per contest. BYU totaled 2,924 points last season (83.5 per contest) and they collected 38.1 rebounds per contest. When it comes to offense, the Cougars shot 47.6% from the field, which was ranked 40th in the country.

The Cougars were ranked 225th in college hoops in PPG surrendered with 75.4. They forced 11.6 TO's per game and allowed teams to shoot 44.3% from the field (188th in college hoops). The BYU defense gave up 35.3% on three-point shots (296 of 838) and their opponents connected on 70.6% of their shots from the charity stripe. They gave up 18.3 assists and 34.3 rebounds every game, which was ranked 291st and 173rd in those categories.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Ohio State

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