BYU Cougars vs West Virginia Mountaineers Prediction, 2/3/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: BYU Cougars vs West Virginia Mountaineers

Date: Saturday, February 3, 2024

Location: WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, WV

TV: BIG12|ESPN+

The West Virginia Mountaineers (8-13) will take on the BYU Cougars (15-5) at WVU Coliseum on Saturday.

The BYU Cougars took the court against Texas and took home the win by a score of 84-72 in their last contest. When talking about fouls, the Cougars finished with 15 while Texas totaled 16 fouls. They converted 8 of their 22 attempts from distance. Texas walked away from this one shooting 62.5% at the charity stripe by converting 10 of their 16 attempts. In addition, Texas collected 21 boards (9 offensive, 12 defensive), but didn't have a block. Texas recorded 17 assists and had 8 steals in this contest. With regard to the defense, BYU let their opponent shoot 44.3% from the floor on 27 out of 61 shooting. They also doled out 16 assists in the matchup in addition to forcing 7 turnovers and getting 3 steals. In relation to grabbing rebounds, they collected 30 with 7 of them being offensive. From the charity stripe, the Cougars converted 13 of 15 attempts for a rate of 86.7%. BYU wrapped up the contest having earned a 64.0% field goal percentage (32 out of 50) and converted 7 out of their 17 three-point shots.

Fousseyni Traore is a player who came through in the matchup. He walked away from this one shooting 85.7% from the field and also distributed 1 assist. He was on the court for 17 minutes played and also grabbed 6 rebounds. He ended up with 16 points on 6 of 7 shooting.

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BYU steps onto the court with a win-loss record of 15-5 so far this season. They lose possession by turning the ball over 11.2 times per contest and as a unit are committing 17.2 personal fouls on a nightly basis. As a team, BYU is snagging 41.5 boards per contest and has 404 dimes for the year, which ranks 5th in college basketball in terms of passing the ball. The Cougars are hitting 36.4% on three-point shots (242 of 664) and 73.6% from the free throw line. They are averaging 84.4 points per game (18th in college basketball) while shooting 47.9% from the field.

On the defensive end, the Cougars are forcing their opponents into 12.0 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 14.3 fouls. They rank 59th in D-1 in giving up assists with 233 surrendered so far this year. The Cougars defense is giving up and opponent field goal percentage of 40.7% (479 of 1,176) and they surrender 32.3 rebounds per contest as a group. They give up 29.8% on shots from beyond the arc and they are ranked 41st in college basketball in PPG allowed (65.7).

When they last stepped on the hardwood, the West Virginia Mountaineers went home victorious with a score of 69-65 when they played Cincinnati. In regard to cleaning up the glass, West Virginia allowed Cincinnati to grab 38 in all (15 on the offensive side). They shot 28.1% from 3-point land by going 9 of 32 and finished the contest at 6 out of 8 at the charity stripe (75.0%). The Mountaineers permitted Cincinnati to convert 25 out of their 66 tries from the field which left them with a rate of 37.9% for the contest. When the final whistle was blown, the Mountaineers finished 24 for 51 from the floor which had them shooting 47.1%. In reference to 3-point shots, West Virginia buried 5 of their 11 attempts (45.5%). They were able to knock down 16 of the free throw tries for a percentage of 57.1%. Cincinnati was called for 18 fouls in this matchup which took the Mountaineers to the charity stripe for 28 attempts. They turned the ball over 11 times, while recording 4 steals for this contest. The Mountaineers were able to snag 22 defensive boards and 7 offensive rebounds totaling 29 for this contest.

Jesse Edwards was important for the Mountaineers for the matchup. He racked up 25 points in his 29 mins of playing time and earned 1 assist for the game. He made 11 out of 17 in this matchup giving him a field goal percentage of 64.7%, and had 10 rebounds.

West Virginia has a record of 8-13 this season. As an offensive unit, the Mountaineers are hitting on 41.5% from the field, which ranks 320th in D-1. West Virginia has accounted for 1,434 pts on the campaign (68.3 per contest) and they pull in 34.5 boards per contest. They are dishing out assists 12.7 times per contest (230th in the country) and they are giving up possession 12.0 times per game. The Mountaineers are responsible for committing 14.8 personal fouls every game and they shoot 71.9% from the charity stripe.

The Mountaineers are ranked 194th in college basketball in points allowed per game with 72.2. They are forcing their opponents into 10.9 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 42.7% from the floor (144th in the country). The West Virginia defense allows 33.1% from downtown (171 of 516) and their opposition makes 73.5% of their foul shots. They relinquish 13.8 assists and 36.6 rebounds every game, which is ranked 264th and 278th in college hoops.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take West Virginia

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