Vermont Catamounts vs Fairfield Stags Prediction, 11/5/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Vermont Catamounts vs Fairfield Stags

Date: Thursday, November 5, 2026

Location: Leo D. Mahoney Arena in Fairfield, CT

TV: ESPN+

Leo D. Mahoney Arena is the location where the Fairfield Stags (21-13 last year) will try to beat the Vermont Catamounts (22-12 last season) on Thursday.

The Vermont Catamounts took the court against Iona and took a loss by a score of 56-55 in their last contest. In regard to fouls, the Catamounts ended up with 13 and Iona had 16 fouls. They also made 7 of their 19 attempts from 3-point range. Iona ended up going 41.7% from the charity stripe by making 5 of their 12 shots. Moreover, Iona snagged 29 boards (10 offensive, 19 defensive), but didn't record a block for the team. Iona earned 9 dimes and had 9 steals for this game. With respect to defending, Vermont allowed their opponent to shoot 38.6% from the field on 22 out of 57 shooting. They also dished out 9 dimes for the matchup as well as forcing the opposition into 12 turnovers and having 9 steals. When talking about rebounding, they collected 36 with 12 of them being on the offensive end. At the charity stripe, the Catamounts converted 9 of 12 tries for a rate of 75.0%. Vermont walked away from the game with a 35.8% FG percentage (19 of 53) and converted 8 out of their 31 shots from beyond the perimeter.

Gus Yalden is a player who came through for the matchup. He totaled 17 points on 7 of 12 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 30 minutes and also grabbed 5 rebounds. He finished shooting 58.3% from the field and also dished out 3 dimes.

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Vermont heads into this matchup after finishing with a record of 22-12 last year. They averaged 73.4 pts per contest (242nd in Division 1) while hitting 46.3% from the field. The Catamounts connected on 34.0% on three-point attempts (292 of 859) and 71.4% from the free throw line. As a team, Vermont pulled in 34.8 rebounds per game and sat with 432 assists throughout last season, which had them ranked 223rd in college hoops in terms of passing the ball. They lost possession via turnover 9.4 times per game and as a team committed 16.9 fouls on a nightly basis.

Defensively, the Catamounts forced their opponents into 9.6 turnovers every game and they drew 16.6 personal fouls. They gave up 35.2% on shots from beyond the perimeter while they were 47th in college in opponents PPG (68.5). The Catamounts gave up an opponent shooting percentage of 42.7% (785 of 1,837) and they relinquished 31.2 rebounds per contest as a group. They were 44th in college hoops in allowing assists 385 relinquished throughout last season.

When they last stepped on the court, the Fairfield Stags walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 76-61 against Siena. The Stags were able to collect 21 defensive rebounds and 13 offensive boards for a total of 34 in this contest. They also coughed up the ball 5 times, while earning 6 steals for this game. Siena had 10 fouls in the game which took the Stags to the free throw line for a total of 5 attempts. They were able to convert 5 of them for a clip of 100.0%. With respect to three-point shots, Fairfield converted 6 out of their 23 tries (26.1%). When the final whistle blew, the Stags ended up shooting 25 out of 69 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 36.2%. The Stags permitted Siena to knock down 24 of their 52 attempts from the field which gave them a rate of 46.2% in the matchup. They finished 52.9% from downtown by shooting 9 of 17 and finished the contest at 19 of 26 at the free throw line (73.1%). With respect to how they rebounded, Fairfield permitted Siena to collect 38 overall (9 on the offensive side).

Declan Wucherpfennig was important for the Stags in this matchup. He buried 4 out of 7 in this game for a rate of 57.1%, and added 10 rebounds. He tallied 13 points in his 36 minutes on the court and had 3 assists for the contest.

Fairfield had a win-loss record of 21-13 last season. The Stags were responsible for committing 15.1 personal fouls per contest and they shot 71.0% from the charity stripe. They got an assist 12.2 times per contest (297th in Division 1) and they coughed up possession 10.2 times per contest. Fairfield earned 2,528 pts last year (74.4 per game) and they snagged 38.5 boards per contest. On the offensive side of the court, the Stags hit 43.1% from the floor, which ranked them 295th in the nation.

The Fairfield defense surrendered 34.0% from downtown (240 of 705) and their opposition made 73.8% of their shots from the free throw line. They relinquished 15.0 assists and 34.5 rebounds per game, which had them ranked 221st and 189th in college hoops. The Stags were ranked 111th in college in points allowed per contest with 71.5. They forced their opponents into 11.7 turnovers on a nightly basis and let teams shoot 44.6% from the floor (208th in the nation).

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Vermont

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