Virginia Cavaliers vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish Prediction, 1/27/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Virginia Cavaliers vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Date: Tuesday, January 27, 2026

Location: Purcell Pavilion in South Bend, IN

TV: ESPN+

The Virginia Cavaliers (16-3) are headed to Purcell Pavilion on Tuesday where they will meet the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (11-9).

The Virginia Cavaliers played North Carolina and ended up losing by a score of 85-80 in their last game. Virginia finished having earned a 45.3% field goal percentage (29 of 64) and knocked down 8 of 27 shots from downtown. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Cavaliers buried 14 of their 20 attempts for a percentage of 70.0%. Concerning hauling in rebounds, they earned 38 with 13 of them being offensive. They also distributed 14 assists in this game in addition to creating 4 turnovers and earning 2 steals. Pertaining to defense, Virginia allowed the other team to go 49.2% from the field on 30 out of 61 shooting. North Carolina totaled 17 assists and had 5 steals in the matchup. Furthermore, North Carolina had 25 rebounds (8 offensive, 17 defensive), but didn't record a block for the team. North Carolina finished the contest at 68.2% when shooting free throws by knocking down 15 of 22 attempts. They buried 10 out of their 22 attempts from distance. When it comes to fouls, the Cavaliers walked away with 18 while North Carolina totaled 14 fouls.

Thijs De Ridder is a player who was a contributor for the contest. He walked away from this one shooting 63.6% from the floor and totaled 2 dimes. He played for 31 minutes and also snagged 8 rebounds. He recorded 20 points on 7 of 11 shooting.

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Virginia will enter this matchup with a record of 16-3 for the campaign. They are turning it over 10.8 times per contest and as a team they are committing 18.8 fouls on a nightly basis. As a unit, Virginia is grabbing 42.1 boards per game and has 328 dimes for the campaign, which ranks 73rd in Division 1 in terms of passing the ball. The Cavaliers are connecting on 36.7% on shots from downtown (198 of 539) and 70.0% from the charity stripe. They currently have an average of 83.8 points per outing (53rd in D-1) on 47.3% from the field.

When they are on the defensive end, the Cavaliers are able to force 10.8 turnovers per game and they draw 18.7 personal fouls. They give up 29.8% on 3-pointers and they are ranked 50th in the country in opponents points per game (68.0). The Cavaliers defensively are giving up and opponent field goal percentage of 38.7% (438 of 1,131) and they concede 32.7 rebounds per game as a team. They are 21st in D-1 in allowing assists to the opposition with 214 surrendered so far this season.

When they last stepped on the hardwood, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish walked away with a victory by a final of 68-64 when they faced Boston College. The Fighting Irish were able to collect 25 defensive boards and 12 offensive boards totaling 37 for this game. They turned it over 8 times, while recording 4 steals for this contest. Boston College had 19 fouls for this game which got the Fighting Irish to the free throw line for 22 tries. They were able to make 14 of those for a percentage of 63.6%. When talking about shots from distance, Notre Dame made 6 of their 26 tries (23.1%). When this game wrapped up, the Fighting Irish finished the game shooting 24 out of 59 from the floor which had them at 40.7%. The Fighting Irish allowed Boston College to make 23 out of 58 attempts from the floor which had them shooting 39.7% for the matchup. They finished 28.1% from behind the 3-point line by shooting 9 out of 32 and walked away from this one shooting 9 out of 14 at the free throw line (64.3%). When discussing how they rebounded, Notre Dame permitted Boston College to snag 29 in total (7 on the offensive side).

Braeden Shrewsberry was important for the Fighting Irish for this contest. He accumulated 22 points in his 33 minutes on the hardwood and totaled 1 assist for the matchup. He knocked down 8 of 17 for this game giving him a field goal percentage of 47.1%, and earned 4 rebounds.

Notre Dame has a record of 11-9 so far this season. The Fighting Irish commit 17.3 personal fouls every game and they connect on 68.8% from the charity stripe. They are assisting teammates 11.9 times per contest (322nd in college) and they turn the ball over 11.6 times per contest. Notre Dame has totaled 1,458 points on the campaign (72.9 per game) and they collect 37.7 boards per contest. As an offensive unit, the Fighting Irish are hitting on 44.7% from the floor, which ranks 226th in Division 1.

The Fighting Irish on the defensive side of the court are 95th in the country in points per game surrendered with 70.1. They are forcing their opponents into 9.5 turnovers on a nightly basis and allow teams to shoot 42.2% from the floor (98th in Division 1). The Notre Dame defense surrenders 31.3% on 3-point shots (164 of 524) and their opponents are converting on 74.5% of their shots from the free throw line. They surrender 12.4 dimes and 31.8 boards per contest, which is ranked 100th and 48th in those categories on the defensive end.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Notre Dame

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