UConn vs Marquette Prediction 1/4/26 College Basketball Picks Today
Marquette (5-9) vs. UConn (13-1)
January 4, 2026 2:00 pm EDT
The Line: UConn -20.5; Over/Under: 145
(Get latest betting odds)
The Marquette Golden Eagles and the UConn Huskies meet Sunday in college basketball action from Gampel Pavilion in Mansfield. Here’s a UConn vs Marquette prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best UConn vs Marquette pick.
Marquette Golden Eagles Betting Preview
Marquette opened the year on a 5-4 run through their first nine games, taking out Albany, Southern, Little Rock, Central Michigan and Valparaiso in that time. The Eagles have lost five straight since then however, losing versus Wisconsin, Purdue, Georgetown, Creighton and Seton Hall in that time. That gives Marquette a 5-9 overall record this year.
In the Seton Hall game on Tuesday the Golden Eagles entered the second half with a one-point deficit. Marquette was outscored 40-35 the rest of the way however, leading to a 79-73 loss in the end. Ben Gold put up 19 points with seven rebounds to lead the team and Nigel James had 16 points with five assists and four rebounds in 30 minutes. Royce Parham added 15 points with eight rebounds in the defeat as well.
UConn Huskies Betting Preview
Over on the UConn side, they beat New Haven, UMass Lowell, Columbia and BYU before a loss to Arizona. Since then the Huskies are on a nice win streak, taking out Bryant, Illinois, Kansas, East Texas A&M, Florida, Texas, Butler, DePaul and Xavier in those games. Over their first 14 outings of the season that gives UConn a nice 13-1 overall record in the books.
Matched up against Xavier on New Year’s Eve, the Huskies were ahead comfortably 43-28 by the break. UConn hit a 47-39 run the rest of the way and powered out the win 90-67 in the end. Alex Karaban was tops in scoring with 19 points, seven boards and four assists. Braylon Mullins added 17 points with six rebounds and Solo Ball chipped in with 17 points in 29 minutes of action.
Why the Connecticut Huskies will win
- Connecticut has won each of its last 10 games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
- Marquette has lost 18 of its last 20 day games against Top 10 AP-ranked opponents.
- Connecticut has won the first half in each of its last 10 games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
Why the Marquette Golden Eagles will win
- Connecticut has lost the first half in four of its last five games against Conference opponents at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion.
UConn vs Marquette Prediction
I’ll probably just stay with UConn. The Huskies beat a decent Xavier team without too much difficulty this week, shooting a nice 53.2 percent from the field with 40 rebounds and 26 team assists. UConn did get outscored in the paint 38-32, though, and had 13 turnovers along the way. Still, the Huskies are looking good during this current nine-game win streak. UConn has been below 71 points just once in that time, during a 61-56 road win over Kansas.
As for Marquette, they couldn’t quite keep pace with Seton Hall this week, shooting a tepid 36.5 percent from the field in the loss. The Eagles were outmuscled on the boards 47-29 but stayed pretty competitive scoring in the paint (30-30). That makes five straight losses for Marquette, and they’ve given up 78 or more points in each of those defeats.
