Pittsburgh Panthers vs California Golden Bears Prediction, 2/28/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Pittsburgh Panthers vs California Golden Bears

Date: Saturday, February 28, 2026

Location: Haas Pavilion in Berkeley, CA

TV: ACC Network

Haas Pavilion is the location where the California Golden Bears (20-8) will attempt to defeat the Pittsburgh Panthers (10-18) on Saturday.

The Pittsburgh Panthers played Stanford and took a loss by a score of 75-67 in their last contest. In regard to personal fouls, the Panthers ended up finishing with 14 and Stanford had 11 personal fouls. They also buried 7 out of their 20 shots from distance. Stanford ended up shooting 100.0% when shooting free throws by making 10 of 10 tries. Furthermore, Stanford snagged 28 boards (9 offensive, 19 defensive), but didn't record a block for the team. Stanford totaled 11 dimes and had 9 steals in this matchup. When discussing the defense, Pittsburgh allowed 50.0% from the field on 29 of 58 shooting. They also recorded 13 assists in this contest while forcing the other team into 8 turnovers and earning 6 steals. Regarding rebounding, they collected 26 with 8 of them being of the offensive variety. From the free throw line, the Panthers made 10 of their 15 tries for a percentage of 66.7%. Pittsburgh finished having earned a 49.0% FG percentage (24 of 49) and knocked down 9 out of their 23 shots from beyond the arc.

Cameron Corhen is a guy who was a major factor for this game. He finished the contest at 61.5% from the floor and also totaled 4 assists. He was on the hardwood for 37 minutes played and also snagged 8 rebounds. He scored 22 points on 8 out of 13 shooting.

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Pittsburgh enters this contest with a win-loss mark of 10-18 on the year. They currently have an average of 69.9 pts per game (315th in Division 1) while connecting on 43.6% from the field. The Panthers are hitting 33.7% on shots from 3-point land (233 of 691) and 66.3% from the charity stripe. As a team, Pittsburgh is grabbing 34.5 boards per contest and has 371 dimes this season, which is 260th in D-1 in terms of passing the rock. They are turning it over 11.4 times per game and as a unit are committing 16.6 personal fouls every game.

On the defensive end, the Panthers are able to force 10.5 turnovers every game and they draw 15.6 fouls. They are conceding 34.7% on 3-pointers while they are 118th in the country in opponents PPG (71.8). The Panthers are allowing and opponent field goal percentage of 45.9% (708 of 1,542) and they relinquish 32.4 boards per game as a group. They are 157th in D-1 in giving up assists to the opposition with 375 surrendered so far this year.

In their last game, the California Golden Bears took home the win by a final score of 73-69 when they faced SMU. With respect to how they rebounded, California allowed SMU to collect 41 in all (13 on the offensive side). They wrapped up this game 38.1% from beyond the perimeter via 8 of 21 and walked away from this one shooting 11 of 26 at the charity stripe (42.3%). The Golden Bears allowed SMU to bury 25 out of 55 tries from the field which had them at 45.5% for this contest. In all, the Golden Bears went 26 for 65 from the floor which had them sitting at 40.0%. Regarding shots from 3-point land, California knocked down 9 out of 32 tries (28.1%). They were able to knock down 12 of them for a rate of 80.0%. SMU had 15 personal fouls in the game which got the Golden Bears to the charity stripe for 15 attempts. They also coughed it up 7 times, while getting 7 steals in the matchup. The Golden Bears corralled 23 defensive rebounds and 7 offensive rebounds totaling 30 for the matchup.

Justin Pippen was important for the Golden Bears for this contest. He converted 8 of 19 in this contest for a field goal percentage of 42.1%, and tallied 4 rebounds. He racked up 24 points in his 34 mins on the court and tallied 5 dimes in the matchup.

California has a win-loss mark of 20-8 this season. As an offensive unit, the Golden Bears are hitting on 44.5% from the field, which ranks 224th in D-1. California has scored 2,198 pts on the season (78.5 per contest) and they average 34.9 rebounds per game. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 14.0 times per contest (177th in D-1) and they turn it over 10.2 times per contest. The Golden Bears commit 18.8 personal fouls per game and they shoot 78.5% from the free throw line.

The California defense surrenders 30.7% on shots from beyond the arc (212 of 690) and their opponents are knocking down 64.5% of their shots from the free throw line. They surrender 14.1 assists and 36.9 boards per contest, ranking them 244th and 320th in college. The Golden Bears defensively are ranked 142nd in the country in points given up per game with 72.6. They are forcing 11.4 turnovers on a nightly basis and allow teams to shoot 42.9% from the field (108th in D-1).

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Pittsburgh

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