West Virginia Mountaineers vs BYU Cougars Prediction, 3/1/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: West Virginia Mountaineers vs BYU Cougars

Date: Saturday, March 1, 2025

Location: Marriott Center in San Antonio, TX

TV: ESPN+

The West Virginia Mountaineers (17-11) are hitting the road to Marriott Center on Saturday where they will go up against the BYU Cougars (20-8).

The West Virginia Mountaineers played TCU and walked away with a win by a score of 73-55 in their last contest. West Virginia ended the contest with a 51.9% field goal percentage (27 of 52) and buried 11 of 26 shots from downtown. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Mountaineers buried 8 of their 11 tries for a percentage of 72.7%. In terms of pulling down boards, they compiled a total of 28 with 5 of them being of the offensive sort. They also doled out 17 assists for the contest while creating 14 turnovers and earning 10 steals. With respect to defending, West Virginia allowed the other team to shoot 39.2% from the field on 20 of 51 shooting. TCU recorded 8 assists and had 5 steals for the matchup. Moreover, TCU pulled down 25 rebounds (6 offensive, 19 defensive), but didn't notch a rejection. TCU finished the game shooting 75.0% from the free throw line by making 12 of 16 tries. They made 3 out of their 14 attempts from distance. In regard to fouls, the Mountaineers ended up with 14 and TCU racked up 16 fouls.

Javon Small is one player who was a contributor for this contest. He shot 50.0% from the floor and recorded 10 assists. He was on the hardwood for 39 minutes and also totaled 5 rebounds. He accumulated 23 points on 8 out of 16 shooting.

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West Virginia will play this contest with a mark of 17-11 so far this year. They cough up possession 10.6 times per game and as a unit they commit 16.3 fouls per contest. As a unit, West Virginia is grabbing 33.1 rebounds per contest and has tallied 390 dimes on the season, which is 182nd in Division 1 in terms of passing the ball. The Mountaineers are connecting on 32.7% on 3-pointers (243 of 743) and 73.0% from the charity stripe. They currently have an average of 68.6 points per contest (311th in college) while shooting 42.8% from the field.

On defense, the Mountaineers are forcing 12.9 turnovers per contest and they draw 14.4 personal fouls. They rank 19th in D-1 in giving up assists to their opponents with 290 surrendered on the season. The Mountaineers are allowing an opponent shooting percentage of 40.5% (635 of 1,567) and they concede 36.4 rebounds per game as a group. They give up 29.2% on three-point shots while they are 17th in D-1 in PPG allowed (64.1).

When they last played, the BYU Cougars took home the win by a final score of 91-81 when they played Arizona State. When it comes to how they cleaned up the glass, BYU permitted Arizona State to pull down 24 in all (4 offensive). They went 34.8% from downtown via 8 out of 23 and ended up going 19 out of 26 from the charity stripe (73.1%). The Cougars permitted Arizona State to knock down 27 of their 57 attempts from the field which had them shooting 47.4% for the matchup. When the final whistle was blown, the Cougars ended up shooting 34 for 62 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 54.8%. In regard to 3-point attempts, BYU buried 17 out of their 34 attempts (50.0%). They were able to knock down 6 of the free throw tries for a percentage of 40.0%. Arizona State committed 13 personal fouls for the game which got the Cougars to the free throw line for a total of 15 shots. They also gave up possession of the ball 11 times, while getting 5 steals in this matchup. The Cougars were able to corral 29 defensive boards and 3 offensive rebounds totaling 32 for the matchup.

Richie Saunders ended up being a factor for the Cougars for the game. He tallied 26 points in his 33 mins of playing time and earned 1 assist for the contest. He buried 10 out of 19 for the game for a field goal rate of 52.6%, and tallied 6 rebounds.

BYU has a win-loss record of 20-8 for the season. The Cougars commit 15.9 fouls every game and they shoot 68.8% from the charity stripe. Their rate of earning assists is at 17.4 times per contest (10th in D-1) and they turn the ball over 11.8 times per contest. BYU has accumulated 2,272 points so far this season (81.1 per contest) and they average 37.1 boards per game. When it comes to offensive execution, the Cougars are shooting 48.7% from the floor, which is 18th in college.

The Cougars on the defensive side of the court are 115th in college in points given up per game with 69.9. They are able to force 12.2 turnovers on a nightly basis and have let teams shoot 43.3% from the floor (149th in college). The BYU defense allows 34.9% on 3-point shots (245 of 703) and opponents are knocking down 69.7% of their foul shots. They give up 13.3 dimes and 30.9 total rebounds per game, which ranks 200th and 24th in college hoops.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take West Virginia

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