NC State vs California Prediction 1/18/25 College Basketball Picks Today

The California Golden Bears and the North Carolina State Wolfpack meet Saturday in college basketball action from PNC Arena. Here’s an NC State vs California prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best NC State vs California pick.

California Golden Bears Betting Preview

The Golden Bears opened up the 2024-25 campaign with a nice run, but since late November it’s been a choppy experience in the record columns. California lost to only Vanderbilt in their first seven outings, otherwise taking wins over Cal State Bakersfield, Cal Poly, USC, Air Force, Sacramento State and Mercyhurst. Since then it’s been a 2-8 stretch over the last 10 games. The Golden Bears have beaten only Northwestern State and Virginia during that time. Otherwise it’s been losses to Missouri, Stanford, Cornell, San Diego State, Pittsburgh, Clemson, Virginia Tech and North Carolina for an 8-9 overall record through 17 games so far.

Matched up against North Carolina in their Wednesday game, the Golden Bears came out of the break with a 39-29 deficit. California didn’t get any closer than that, getting pummeled in the second half on a 40-24 run for an eventual loss 79-53 in the end. Tops in scoring was Mady Sissoko, who was the only starter on the team to finish in double-figures with 16 points, eight boards and two assists. Joshua Ola-Joseph came off the bench to contribute 10 points with three boards, while both Andrej Stojakovic and DJ Campbell mustered six points apiece along with a combined seven rebounds, four steals and four assists in the defeat.

North Carolina State Wolfpack Betting Preview

Over on the North Carolina State side, they also kicked off their campaign on a steady stretch but have since had issues posting consistent periods of wins. The Wolfpack beat South Carolina Upstate, Presbyterian, Coastal Carolina, Colgate and William & Mary in their first five games of the year, then fell to Purdue, BYU and Texas in succession over the next trio of outings. A 3-1 stretch came next with wins over Florida State, Coppin State and Rider (and a loss to Kansas mixed in). Since then North Carolina State is just 1-4. The lone win in that time came over Notre Dame. Otherwise it was losses to Virginia, Wake Forest, North Carolina and Virginia Tech during that time, resulting in a 9-8 overall run so far this year for the Wolfpack.

In the Virginia Tech matchup on Wednesday, North Carolina State entered the second half sporting a 45-34 edge. The Wolfpack were outscored 45-31 the rest of the way in an eventual 79-76 loss, however. Jayden Taylor topped the team in the losing effort, totaling 17 points with three assists, two rebounds and a steal. Ben Middlebrooks added 13 options with three steals and two rebounds, while Marcus Hill also finished in double-figures with 12 points, five rebounds and two assists. Dontrez Styles chipped in nine points with five rebounds as well.

Why the NC State Wolfpack will win

• California has lost 10 of its last 11 games against the Atlantic Coast Conference.
• The home team has won eight of NC State’s last nine games.
• NC State has won the first half in 10 of its last 12 night games.

Why the California Golden Bears will win

• NC State has lost four of its last five games.
• NC State has lost the first half in seven of its last eight night games against the Atlantic Coast Conference at Lenovo Center.

NC State vs California Prediction

I’ll just stay with NC State here. Both teams could use a good showing (and a win) here, though. The Wolfpack had a pretty rough second half in their loss to Virginia Tech this week, falling despite 50 percent shooting from the field and only eight turnovers. The 35-24 rebounding deficit (15-8 offensive) was the most glaring stat discrepancy in that one. If there’s good news, NC State’s 76 points in that game broke a string of sub-par offensive efforts featuring fewer than 68 points in four straight outings.

As for California, they were pummeled in most facets during the loss to the Tar Heels, shooting a rough 34.8 percent from the field and an abysmal 3-of-25 (12 percent) from outside with a 45-33 rebounding deficit and 13 turnovers. The Bears have given up 71 or more points in all nine of their losses this year, so if NC State can hit that threshold the Wolfpack should be in good shape overall.