Virginia Tech Hokies vs Louisville Cardinals Prediction, 1/24/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Virginia Tech Hokies vs Louisville Cardinals

Date: Saturday, January 24, 2026

Location: KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, KY

TV: ESPN+

KFC Yum! Center is where the Louisville Cardinals (13-5) will go up against the Virginia Tech Hokies (15-5) on Saturday.

The Virginia Tech Hokies faced off with Syracuse and walked away with a win by a score of 76-74 in their last game. In reference to personal fouls, the Hokies walked away with 15 while Syracuse totaled 28 personal fouls. They also converted 10 out of their 23 shots from three-point range. Syracuse finished the contest at 85.7% from the free throw line by making 12 of their 14 shots. Furthermore, Syracuse snagged 30 boards (7 offensive, 23 defensive), but wrapped up the game with no rejections. Syracuse recorded 13 dimes and had 6 steals for this contest. Pertaining to defense, Virginia Tech let their opponent shoot 42.6% from the floor on 26 out of 61 shooting. They also doled out 10 assists in the game while forcing 14 turnovers and having 9 steals. In the matter of rebounding, they compiled 33 with 8 of them being offensive. When they shot from the free throw line, the Hokies knocked down 26 of 36 attempts for a rate of 72.2%. Virginia Tech walked away from the game having earned a 45.1% field goal percentage (23 out of 51) and converted 4 of their 17 shots from beyond the arc.

Ben Hammond is a guy who played a role for the matchup. He accounted for 24 points on 5 out of 10 shooting. He saw the court for 37 mins and also totaled 4 boards. He ended up going 50.0% from the floor and recorded 4 dimes.

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Virginia Tech will enter this matchup with a record of 15-5 so far this season. They average 82.0 points per game (81st in Division 1) while hitting 45.8% from the field. The Hokies are hitting 34.2% from downtown (161 of 471) and 72.5% from the free throw line. As a unit, Virginia Tech is pulling down 36.5 boards per game and has totaled 290 assists on the season, which ranks 142nd in the nation in terms of passing. They turn it over 10.3 times per game and as a group are committing 17.2 personal fouls on a nightly basis.

Defensively, the Hokies are able to force 13.2 turnovers every game while drawing 19.8 fouls. They give up 29.5% on shots from beyond the perimeter and they are ranked 199th in the nation in PPG from their opponents (74.1). The Hokies are allowing and opponent field goal percentage of 43.0% (536 of 1,246) and they concede 36.1 rebounds per game as a squad. They currently rank 168th in the country in giving up assists to their opponents with 256 surrendered for the season.

When they last stepped on the court, the Louisville Cardinals took home the win by a final score of 100-59 when they played Pittsburgh. In the matter of how they cleaned up the glass, Louisville allowed Pittsburgh to get 23 in total (7 on the offensive glass). They went 29.2% from downtown by shooting 7 of 24 and finished the game at 10 out of 16 from the charity stripe (62.5%). The Cardinals allowed Pittsburgh to bury 21 of their 55 tries from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 38.2% for this contest. In all, the Cardinals finished shooting 36 out of 57 from the field which gave them a percentage of 63.2%. In reference to shots from 3-point land, Louisville made 15 out of their 29 attempts (51.7%). They were able to knock down 13 of the free throw tries for a rate of 86.7%. Pittsburgh committed 14 fouls in this game which got the Cardinals to the free throw line for a total of 15 tries. They gave up possession of the ball 8 times, while getting 6 steals in the game. The Cardinals were able to pull down 28 defensive rebounds and 5 offensive rebounds for a total of 33 for the contest.

Ryan Conwell pitched in for the Cardinals in this matchup. He buried 9 out of 16 for this contest for a rate of 56.3%, and accumulated 6 rebounds. He scored 24 points in his 30 minutes on the court and accounted for 6 assists in the game.

Louisville has a mark of 13-5 for the year. The Cardinals have committed 19.6 fouls per game and they go 77.2% from the free throw line. They are assisting teammates 17.9 times per game (23rd in college) and they are giving up possession 11.3 times per contest. Louisville has tallied 1,583 points so far this year (87.9 per game) and they pull down 41.3 rebounds per game. On the offensive side of the court, the Cardinals are connecting on 46.9% from the field, which is 99th in college hoops.

The Louisville defense surrenders 32.1% on 3-point attempts (140 of 436) and opponents are making 70.8% of their free throw shots. They have surrendered 11.3 assists and 33.7 boards on a nightly basis, which ranks 40th and 129th in college hoops. The Cardinals on the defensive side of the court are 77th in D-1 in points per game surrendered with 69.6. They are forcing 12.6 TO's per game and have let teams shoot 39.3% from the floor (21st in the nation).

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Louisville

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