Samford Bulldogs vs Western Carolina Catamounts Prediction, 1/31/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Samford Bulldogs vs Western Carolina Catamounts

Date: Saturday, January 31, 2026

Location: Ramsey Center in Cullowhee, NC

TV: ESPN+

The Samford Bulldogs (10-11) are headed to Ramsey Center on Saturday where they will play the Western Carolina Catamounts (7-12).

The Samford Bulldogs took the court against Chattanooga and earned the victory with a final of 75-64 in their last game. In the matter of fouls, the Bulldogs left the arena with 19 and Chattanooga racked up 27 fouls. They also made 10 of 26 tries from distance. Chattanooga finished the contest at 66.7% at the free throw line by knocking down 14 of 21 attempts. Additionally, Chattanooga snagged 32 boards (5 offensive, 27 defensive), but didn't notch a block. Chattanooga distributed 13 dimes and had 1 steal in this contest. In reference to the defense, Samford allowed the other team to go 41.7% from the floor on 20 of 48 shooting. They also distributed 13 assists in this matchup as well as creating 7 turnovers and earning 6 steals. With respect to hauling in rebounds, they compiled a total of 33 with 6 of them being offensive. At the charity stripe, the Bulldogs converted 23 of their 36 attempts for a rate of 63.9%. Samford walked away from the game with a 40.4% field goal percentage (21 out of 52) and made 10 of 29 3-point attempts.

Jadin Booth is a player who was a major contributor in the matchup. He ended up shooting 56.3% from the floor and also totaled 3 assists. He was on the court for 40 minutes played and also grabbed 3 rebounds. He racked up 28 points on 9 of 16 shooting.

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Samford enters this contest with a mark of 10-11 so far this season. They have an average of 77.4 pts per game (163rd in the country) while hitting 43.6% from the field. The Bulldogs are shooting 33.7% on shots from downtown (199 of 591) and 67.3% from the free throw line. As a team, Samford is snagging 36.3 rebounds per game and has accumulated 318 dimes on the year, which ranks 118th in the nation in terms of passing the ball. They lose possession by turning the ball over 8.7 times per contest and as a group are committing 15.9 fouls every game.

On defense, the Bulldogs are forcing 9.2 turnovers per contest while drawing 20.1 fouls. They rank 148th in the country in allowing assists with 270 surrendered for the campaign. The Bulldogs are giving up a shooting percentage of 44.7% (569 of 1,274) and they surrender 37.3 boards per game as a squad. They are relinquishing 37.1% on shots from distance while they are 250th in college in opponents PPG (76.3).

The last time they took the court, the Western Carolina Catamounts took home the win by a final score of 88-58 when they played VMI. The Catamounts were able to collect 27 defensive boards and 17 offensive rebounds for a total of 44 in this matchup. They turned it over 4 times, while getting 6 steals for the contest. VMI had 5 fouls in this contest which got the Catamounts to the free throw line for a total of 3 attempts. They were able to knock down 1 of those for a percentage of 33.3%. Regarding shots from beyond the perimeter, Western Carolina made 13 out of 32 tries (40.6%). When the final whistle blew, the Catamounts ended up going 37 out of 72 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 51.4%. The Catamounts allowed VMI to bury 21 of 53 tries from the field which had them shooting 39.6% for the contest. They finished shooting 36.7% from 3-point land by shooting 11 out of 30 and ended up shooting 5 of 6 from the free throw line (83.3%). Concerning rebounds, Western Carolina permitted VMI to pull down 18 in total (4 on the offensive side).

Marcus Kell was important for the Catamounts for the contest. He knocked down 7 out of 13 for the contest for a rate of 53.8%, and had 4 rebounds. He recorded 18 points in his 26 mins of playing time and earned 1 assist for the game.

Western Carolina has a win-loss record of 7-12 on the season. The Catamounts are committing 19.6 personal fouls per game and they go 69.1% from the free throw line. They are assisting teammates 13.5 times per game (228th in Division 1) and they turn it over 12.7 times per game. Western Carolina has totaled 1,476 pts for the season (77.7 per contest) and they pull in 39.9 rebounds per game. When it comes to offensive execution, the Catamounts are hitting on 44.3% from the field, which ranks 247th in the nation.

The Catamounts on the defensive end are ranked 320th in college in PPG given up with 79.8. They are forcing their opponents into 11.2 TO's every game and have allowed teams to shoot 45.7% from the field (278th in college hoops). The Western Carolina defense allows 37.2% on shots from distance (186 of 500) and opponents are connecting on 73.2% of their shots from the charity stripe. They surrender 13.6 assists and 33.9 total rebounds per game, which has them ranked 194th and 150th in Division 1.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Western Carolina

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