Cincinnati Bearcats vs Houston Cougars Prediction, 3/1/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Cincinnati Bearcats vs Houston Cougars

Date: Saturday, March 1, 2025

Location: Fertitta Center in Seattle, WA

TV: CBS

The Cincinnati Bearcats (17-11) are headed to Fertitta Center on Saturday where they will try to beat the Houston Cougars (24-4).

The Cincinnati Bearcats stepped onto the hardwood against Baylor and walked away with a win by a score of 69-67 in their last game. When talking about personal fouls, the Bearcats ended up walking away with 10 and Baylor totaled 13 personal fouls. They converted 11 out of their 25 tries from beyond the arc. Baylor finished the contest at 80.0% at the free throw line by making 4 of their 5 tries. Furthermore, Baylor grabbed 27 boards (7 offensive, 20 defensive), but couldn't earn a rejection. Baylor distributed 17 dimes and had 3 steals in this game. When talking about the defense, Cincinnati allowed their opponent to shoot 47.3% from the floor on 26 out of 55 shooting. They also dished out 15 dimes for this contest in addition to forcing the other team into 12 turnovers and earning 6 steals. With respect to pulling down boards, they collected 28 with 8 of them being offensive. When they shot from the free throw line, the Bearcats buried 9 of 14 attempts for a rate of 64.3%. Cincinnati wrapped up the contest with a 46.3% FG percentage (25 out of 54) and converted 10 of their 23 shots from beyond the perimeter.

Jizzle James is a guy who was a contributor in this contest. He accumulated 18 points on 6 of 20 shooting. He played for 34 minutes played and pulled down 1 board. He finished shooting 30.0% from the field and also earned 1 assist.

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Cincinnati steps onto the court with a win-loss record of 17-11 for the year. They are averaging 71.6 pts per contest (253rd in Division 1) while hitting 45.5% from the floor. The Bearcats are connecting on 33.3% on shots beyond the perimeter (212 of 637) and 66.6% from the charity stripe. As a team, Cincinnati is grabbing 34.6 rebounds per game and has tallied 388 dimes on the campaign, which has them ranked 189th in the nation in terms of passing. They are turning it over 9.9 times per game and as a group they commit 13.6 personal fouls on a nightly basis.

When they are on the defensive end, the Bearcats are able to force 12.7 turnovers per game while drawing 14.4 personal fouls. They currently rank 71st in D-1 in allowing assists to the opposition with 335 relinquished so far this year. The Bearcats are giving up an opponent FG percentage of 42.1% (671 of 1,595) and they relinquish 33.1 rebounds per game as a group. They are giving up 32.4% from beyond the arc while they are 24th in D-1 in points per game from their opponents (65.0).

The last time they took the court, the Houston Cougars went home victorious with a score of 69-61 against Texas Tech. The Cougars recorded 25 defensive boards and 5 offensive boards totaling 30 for this game. They also gave up possession of the ball 9 times, while getting 7 steals in this matchup. Texas Tech committed 18 personal fouls in this matchup which got the Cougars to the free throw line for 23 shots. They were able to make 19 of the free throws for a rate of 82.6%. With respect to shooting from 3-point land, Houston made 6 of 12 attempts (50.0%). When the final whistle blew, the Cougars shot 22 out of 49 from the field which had them shooting 44.9%. The Cougars permitted Texas Tech to knock down 17 of 57 attempts from the floor which had them shooting 29.8% for the contest. They went 20.0% from downtown by shooting 6 of 30 and walked away from this one shooting 21 out of 26 from the free throw line (80.8%). Concerning rebounding, Houston allowed Texas Tech to pull down 36 in all (15 on the offensive glass).

Milos Uzan was important for the Cougars for the matchup. He buried 8 of 15 in the matchup giving him a rate of 53.3%, and accounted for 2 rebounds. He earned 22 points in his 35 mins on the court and accumulated 2 assists in the game.

Houston has a mark of 24-4 on the campaign. As an offense, the Cougars are hitting on 46.2% from the field, which ranks 106th in the nation. Houston has accumulated 2,097 points for the campaign (74.9 per game) and they collect 36.6 rebounds per game. They are assisting teammates 12.9 times per contest (241st in college) and they lose possession via turnover 9.4 times per game. The Cougars are responsible for committing 16.7 personal fouls every game while shooting 73.7% from the free throw line.

The Houston defense allows 31.4% on 3-point shots (196 of 624) and opponents are making 69.0% of their free throw attempts. They have surrendered 10.9 dimes and 30.9 boards per contest, which is ranked 29th and 24th in college. The Cougars on the defensive end are ranked 1st in the country in PPG given up with 57.8. They are forcing their opponents into 14.0 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 38.0% from the field (4th in D-1).

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Cincinnati

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