The Virginia Cavaliers and the West Virginia Mountaineers meet Wednesday in college basketball action from Suncoast Credit Union Arena. Virginia is currently 4-1 overall following a shocking upset loss to Wisconsin on Monday. As for West Virginia, they’re 2-2 on the season. The Mountaineers lost to SMU in their last outing. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Virginia Cavaliers
The Cavaliers kicked off the season with four straight wins. Those victories came 80-50 over Tarleton State, 73-70 versus Florida, 80-51 against NC A&T and 62-33 versus Texas Southern. In the win over the Tigers, Virginia shot 43.8 percent from the field with 36 rebounds and 13 team assists.
Virginia hit the wall against Wisconsin on Monday. After falling behind 28-18 in the first half, the Cavaliers scored just 23 points from there in a rough loss 65-41. The only team player to finish in double-figures was Reece Beekman with 17 points and seven assists. Isaac McKneely added nine points as well.
West Virginia Mountaineers
Over on the Mountaineers’ side, they managed to win two of their first three games. Sandwiched around a loss to Monmouth 73-65, West Virginia took victories over Missouri State 67-59 and Jacksonville State 70-57. The Mountaineers shot a nice 51.1 percent with 39 rebounds and 16 assists in the win over the Gamecocks.
West Virginia was up 36-25 against SMU in their Monday matchup. The Mountaineers were outscored 45-22 in a miserable second half however, losing 70-58 in the end. Jesse Edwards posted 18 points with nine rebounds to lead the team, while Quinn Slazinski put up 13 points and three assists.
ANDREW’S FREE WEST VIRGINIA VS VIRGINIA PREDICTION
I’m going to stick with Virginia. The Cavaliers were stunned by the Badgers on Monday, and the stats are pretty ugly. Virginia shot just 32.6 percent from the field and 28.6 percent (4-of-14) from 3-point range in the defeat, but really got hammered on the boards. The Cavs lost the rebounding battle 48-21 (20-3 offensive) in the upset loss. They’ve scored just 103 combined points in the last two games.
As for West Virginia, they shot a tepid 37 percent in the loss to SMU on Monday but did gather in 39 rebounds. The Cavaliers are likely going to redouble their efforts on defense in this one, so it’s going to be tough for the Mountaineers to find too much daylight. I like Virginia to bounce back and cover here, but I’m probably staying away.
