West Virginia vs Cincinnati Prediction Basketball Picks 1-31-24

The Cincinnati Bearcats and the West Virginia Mountaineers meet Wednesday in college basketball action from WVU Coliseum. Cincinnati is 14-6 this year after a win over UCF on Saturday. As for West Virginia, they’re coming off a loss to Oklahoma State that dropped the Mountaineers to 7-13 overall. Let’s get into our Cincinnati vs. West Virginia prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

Cincinnati Bearcats

The Bearcats hit a 12-2 run out of the gate this year. The only losses came to Xavier and Dayton. Cincinnati has gone just 2-4 since then with losses to Texas, Baylor, Oklahoma and Kansas. The wins in that time came versus TCU (in overtime) and UCF otherwise.

Matched up against UCF on Saturday, the Bearcats faced a 12-point deficit going into the locker room. Cincinnati woke up in the second half on a 41-18 run though, eventually winning 68-57. Dan Skillings was the lead team scorer on 19 points and seven rebounds.

West Virginia Mountaineers

Over on the Mountaineers’ side, they haven’t been able to win consecutive games yet in a tough campaign. West Virginia started out the year at 5-10 overall and they’ve gone 2-3 since then. The wins came versus Texas and Kansas; the losses in that stretch were versus Oklahoma, UCF and Oklahoma State.

In the matchup versus Oklahoma State, the Mountaineers went into the second half with a slim 33-32 edge. West Virginia was outscored from there 38-33 however, and lost 38-33. Leading the team was Kerr Kriisa with 21 points and five rebounds in the defeat.

ANDREW’S FREE CINCINNATI VS WEST VIRGINIA PREDICTION

I’ll stick with Cincinnati. The Bearcats have struggled in the win column lately, but to be fair they’ve gone through an absolute gauntlet of top-tier national teams in that stretch. Cincinnati was solid in a more manageable matchup with UCF their last time out (despite a slow start), shooting 46.2 percent from the field with 39 rebounds and 15 assists. West Virginia should provide a similar stat line.

Speaking of the Mountaineers, they’ve been below 67 points in three of the last four games but have also beaten powerhouses Kansas and Texas in their last five. There’s a chance that West Virginia catches fire and powers out a victory here, but I’m a little more confident in Cincinnati covering on the road.