Cincinnati Bearcats vs Houston Cougars Prediction, 1/28/2023 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Cincinnati Bearcats vs Houston Cougars

Date: Saturday, January 28, 2023

Location: Fertitta Center in Houston, TX

TV: fuboTV

The Cincinnati Bearcats (14-7) are traveling to Fertitta Center on Saturday where they will compete against the Houston Cougars (19-2).

The Cincinnati Bearcats stepped onto the hardwood against Memphis and took a loss by a final of 75-68 in their last contest. When talking about personal fouls, the Bearcats finished with 24 while Memphis recorded 18 personal fouls. They also knocked down 5 of 14 attempts from three-point range. Memphis walked away from this one shooting 83.3% from the free throw line by knocking down 20 of 24 attempts. Moreover, Memphis pulled down 30 boards (6 offensive, 24 defensive), but finished the game with no rejections. Memphis earned 16 dimes and had 3 steals for this game. In terms of the defense, Cincinnati allowed the other team to go 48.1% from the field on 25 out of 52 shooting. They also doled out 15 assists in the matchup while forcing the other team into 13 turnovers and getting 5 steals. Regarding pulling down boards, they compiled 29 with 10 of them being offensive. At the free throw line, the Bearcats buried 14 of 21 shots for a percentage of 66.7%. Cincinnati wrapped up the contest with a 40.0% field goal percentage (24 out of 60) and made 6 of 24 shots from beyond the arc.

Viktor Lakhin is one guy who was a contributor in the game. He ended up shooting 78.6% from the floor and also earned 1 assist. He saw the court for 33 minutes played and also totaled 10 boards. He walked away with 22 points on 11 out of 14 shooting.

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Cincinnati heads into this matchup with a record of 14-7 this season. They are turning it over 11.0 times per game and as a group are committing 15.4 fouls per contest. As a unit, Cincinnati is snagging 37.9 boards per contest and has accumulated 325 dimes for the year, which ranks 36th in college basketball in terms of passing the ball. The Bearcats are hitting 35.9% on shots from 3-point land (187 of 521) and 69.1% from the free throw line. They are averaging 76.8 pts per contest (72nd in Division 1) while connecting on 45.0% from the field.

Defensively, the Bearcats are forcing their opponents into 12.6 turnovers per game while drawing 15.5 personal fouls. They are surrendering 31.7% from beyond the arc and they are 138th in D-1 in PPG from their opponents (67.7). The Bearcats defense is giving up and opponent field goal percentage of 41.6% (518 of 1,244) and they concede 34.1 rebounds per game as a basketball team. They are 214th in the country in giving up assists to their opponents with 267 conceded for the year.

When they last stepped on the hardwood, the Houston Cougars got the victory with a final of 82-71 when they played UCF. Regarding how they rebounded, Houston allowed UCF to snag 24 overall (8 on the offensive glass). They wrapped up this game 39.1% from beyond the arc by going 9 of 23 and ended up shooting 16 out of 19 at the free throw line (84.2%). The Cougars permitted UCF to convert 23 out of their 53 attempts from the field which left them with a rate of 43.4% in the game. In all, the Cougars went 29 for 57 from the field which gave them a percentage of 50.9%. With regard to three-point attempts, Houston made 11 out of 27 attempts (40.7%). They were able to knock down 13 of those for a percentage of 65.0%. UCF was called for 20 personal fouls for this game which got the Cougars to the charity stripe for a total of 20 tries. They also gave up possession of the ball 10 times, while earning 2 steals in the game. The Cougars corralled 20 defensive rebounds and 13 offensive rebounds totaling 33 in the matchup.

Emanuel Sharp ended up being important for the Cougars in this game. He accumulated 18 points in his 24 mins on the hardwood, but didn't record an assist. He buried 5 of 7 for this game for a field goal percentage of 71.4%, and tallied 3 rebounds.

Houston has a win-loss record of 19-2 on the season. The Cougars are committing 15.7 fouls per game and they connect on 70.0% from the charity stripe. Their rate of assisting teammates is at 14.5 times per contest (93rd in D-1) and they are giving up possession 10.0 times per contest. Houston has tallied 1,584 pts for the campaign (75.4 per game) and they snag 39.4 rebounds per game. As an offense, the Cougars are shooting 46.7% from the field, which is ranked 68th in the country.

The Houston defense concedes 26.0% on shots from beyond the arc (130 of 500) and their opposition knocks down 72.1% of their free throw shots. They concede 9.4 assists and 31.7 rebounds every game, which is ranked 10th and 54th in the nation. The Cougars are ranked 2nd in the country in PPG allowed with 54.2. They have forced 15.0 TO's every game and have allowed teams to shoot 34.7% from the field (2nd in college hoops).

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Cincinnati

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