Western Carolina Catamounts vs Samford Bulldogs Prediction, 1/7/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Western Carolina Catamounts vs Samford Bulldogs

Date: Wednesday, January 7, 2026

Location: Pete Hanna Center in Homewood, AL

TV: ESPN+

The Samford Bulldogs (8-7) are welcoming the Western Carolina Catamounts (5-8) at Pete Hanna Center on Wednesday.

The Western Carolina Catamounts faced off with Furman and earned the victory with a final of 80-77 in their last contest. Western Carolina wrapped up the contest having earned a 44.1% field goal percentage (30 out of 68) and knocked down 10 out of their 20 shots from distance. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Catamounts knocked down 10 of their 16 attempts for a percentage of 62.5%. When talking about rebounding, they compiled 42 with 13 of them being offensive. They also dished out 13 assists for the matchup as well as forcing 9 turnovers and earning 7 steals. Concerning the defense, Western Carolina allowed their opponent to shoot 44.6% from the floor on 29 out of 65 shooting. Furman earned 18 assists and had 7 steals in this contest. On top of that, Furman pulled down 33 rebounds (10 offensive, 23 defensive), but finished the game with no rejections. Furman finished 47.1% from the charity stripe by knocking down 8 of their 17 shots. They knocked down 11 of their 32 attempts from three-point range. In reference to personal fouls, the Catamounts ended up finishing with 18 and Furman recorded 13 personal fouls.

Julien Soumaoro is a player who played a role for this contest. He finished the game shooting 46.2% from the floor and totaled 1 assist. He played 35 mins played and totaled 8 boards. He ended up finishing with 16 points on 6 of 13 shooting.

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Western Carolina enters this contest with a mark of 5-8 on the year. They average 77.2 points per outing (191st in Division 1) while going 43.9% from the field. The Catamounts are shooting 31.3% on shots from 3-point land (102 of 326) and 68.0% from the charity stripe. As a unit, Western Carolina is pulling in 40.2 rebounds per contest and has accounted for 176 dimes for the year, which is 335th in the country in terms of passing the ball. They turn the ball over 14.1 times per game and as a team they are committing 20.2 fouls every game.

On the defensive end of the court, the Catamounts are forcing their opponents into 12.8 turnovers per contest while drawing 16.3 personal fouls. They currently rank 108th in the country in giving up assists to their opponents with 183 surrendered this year. The Catamounts defensively are giving up a shooting percentage of 46.5% (353 of 759) and they relinquish 34.3 rebounds per contest as a squad. They are giving up 37.7% on shots from beyond the arc and they are ranked 328th in college in opponents PPG (80.8).

For their last game, the Samford Bulldogs went home defeated by a final of 89-82 when they played UNC Greensboro. When discussing how they attacked the glass, Samford allowed UNC Greensboro to pull down 33 in total (8 offensive). They shot 68.8% from 3-point land by connecting on 11 out of 16 and walked away from this one shooting 22 out of 30 from the free throw line (73.3%). The Bulldogs allowed UNC Greensboro to make 28 of 59 tries from the field which gave them a percentage of 47.5% in this game. When the game finished, the Bulldogs walked away from this one shooting 29 out of 60 from the floor which had them sitting at 48.3%. When talking about shots from downtown, Samford converted 10 out of 30 tries (33.3%). They were able to convert 14 of those for a percentage of 58.3%. UNC Greensboro committed 17 fouls in the game which got the Bulldogs to the free throw line for a total of 24 tries. They also gave up possession of the ball 6 times, while earning 1 steal in the matchup. The Bulldogs earned 23 defensive rebounds and 10 offensive boards totaling 33 for the game.

Jadin Booth pitched in for the Bulldogs in this game. He buried 8 out of 21 for the game giving him a field goal percentage of 38.1%, and had 3 rebounds. He recorded 26 points in his 36 minutes on the court and earned 4 assists in the matchup.

Samford has a win-loss record of 8-7 this season. The Bulldogs commit 15.5 fouls every game and they shoot 65.1% from the charity stripe. They are getting an assist 15.0 times per game (142nd in the nation) and they are turning it over 9.4 times per game. Samford has earned 1,164 points so far this year (77.6 per game) and they snag 38.5 rebounds per contest. As an offensive unit, the Bulldogs are shooting 43.1% from the field, which is ranked 289th in the country.

The Bulldogs on the defensive end are ranked 242nd in Division 1 in PPG allowed with 75.5. They are forcing 10.1 turnovers per game and have allowed teams to shoot 43.4% from the field (182nd in college). The Samford defense surrenders 37.0% on shots from beyond the perimeter (124 of 335) and opponents are converting on 73.0% of their shots from the free throw line. They allow 13.0 assists and 38.7 rebounds per game, which is 161st and 336th in the nation.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Western Carolina

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