Oklahoma State vs Cincinnati Prediction 3/11/25 College Basketball Picks Today

The Cincinnati Bearcats and the Oklahoma State Cowboys meet Tuesday in Big 12 Tournament college basketball action from Sprint Center. Here’s an Oklahoma State vs Cincinnati prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Oklahoma State vs Cincinnati pick.

Cincinnati Bearcats Betting Preview

Cincinnati stormed out of the gate at the start of the season, but since late December they’ve been struggling in the win column. The Bearcats opened on a great 10-1 run though, falling to only Vilanova on December 3 during that stretch. Losses to Kansas State, Arizona, Baylor, and Kansas came in the next four outings, then wins over Colorado and Arizona State. Cincinnati would go 5-6 in the next 11 games, taking wins over UCF, BYU, Utah, TCU, and Baylor among losses to Texas Tech, BYU, Utah, West Virginia, Iowa State, and West Virginia again otherwise. Since then it’s been three straight losses for the Bearcats versus Houston, Kansas State, and Oklahoma State. In total that gives Cincinnati a 17-14 overall run across 31 games this year.

In the Oklahoma State road matchup over the weekend, Cincinnati came out of the break sporting a 44-36 deficit. The Bearcats didn’t end up getting any closer than that on a 34-31 run the rest of the way and took the loss 78-67 in the end. Tops in scoring during the losing effort was Jizzle James with 17 points, four rebounds, two assists, and two blocks. Dan Skillings came off the bench for 15 points, four assists, and two steals in 28 minutes of action, and Day Day Thomas added 12 points with five rebounds, three assists, and two steals in 35 minutes.

Oklahoma State Cowboys Betting Preview

Over on the Oklahoma State side, they’ve had quite the choppy year overall and haven’t been able to stay above the .500 mark so far. The Cowboys opened on a reasonable 8-3 run though, falling to FAU, Nevada, and Oklahoma during that time. Losses to Houston, West Virginia, Utah, BYU, Arizona, Texas Tech, and Kansas State came in the next nine games (among wins over Kansas State and Colorado), then a 3-3 stretch with wins over Utah, Arizona State, and UCF alongside losses to Houston, TCU and Texas Tech. Since then it’s been a 2-3 run with wins over Iowa State and Cincinnati among losses to Kansas, Baylor, and UCF. In total that gives the Cowboys a 15-16 record across their first 31 games this year.

In the Cincinnati matchup on Saturday, Oklahoma State slowed down a bit in the second half but everything worked out well in the end during the 78-67 win. The Cowboys’ leading scorer was Abou Ousmane with 24 points, eight rebounds, one assist, one steal, and one block. Bryce Thompson added 16 points with three rebounds in 33 minutes. The only other player on the team to finish in double-figures was Marchelus Avery with 10 points, two assists, one steal, and one block in 23 minutes of action off the bench during the victory.

Why the Oklahoma State Cowboys will win

• Cincinnati has lost four of its last five day games.
• Oklahoma State has won four of its last five day games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Oklahoma State has won the first half in four of its last five day games against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Why the Cincinnati Bearcats will win

• Cincinnati has won 12 of its last 14 day games against non-AP-ranked opponents at a neutral venue.
• Oklahoma State has lost five of its last six day games played at neutral venues.
• Cincinnati has won the first half in each of its last three games played at neutral venues.

Matchup/League Facts

• Oklahoma State ranks T14th among Division 1 teams for free throws made per game this season (17.5).
• Oklahoma State ranks 14th among Division 1 teams for free throw attempts per game this season (24.0).
• Cincinnati ranks 362nd among Division 1 teams for free throws made per game this season (9.2).
• Cincinnati ranks T355th among Division 1 teams for free throw attempts per game this season (14.0).

Oklahoma State vs Cincinnati Prediction

I’m going to take a stab at Cincinnati, but you could call this one either way pretty easily. If both teams play to their capabilities we’ll have a great matchup. The Bearcats do need a good bounce-back effort from Saturday’s game, where they shot just 40.6 percent from the field with a 41-37 rebounding deficit, 4-of-7 (57.1 percent) from the line, and 13 turnovers in the loss. Cincinnati gave up 46.8 percent shooting from the field and hit only seven of their 28 attempts from 3-point range (25 percent). There’s lots to clean up in this rematch. The Bearcats aren’t scoring well lately either with fewer than 70 points in four straight games (a 1-3 run).

As for Oklahoma State, they’ll be confident coming into this one but they’ve also been giving up a lot of points in their losses lately. If Cincinnati can get the offense going (and avoid mistakes) I think the Bearcats will power out some revenge in this tournament matchup.