West Virginia vs Cincinnati Predictions, Picks, and Odds: Thomas, Skillings Slice and Dice Mountaineers

If there was a Big 12 Tournament bracket team that could burst some bubbles and punch a March Madness odds ticket, you’d have to be looking at 11th-seeded Cincinnati.

The Bearcats open their tourney run with a tilt against the bottom-seeded West Virginia Mountaineers — a team Cincy trounced by 36 points in the regular-season finale.

WVU enters as 10.5-point dogs in the conference tournament odds when they tip things off at 3:00 p.m. ET Tuesday from T-Mobile Arena in Kansas City. The winner draws Kansas, the sixth seed in the tournament.

Find out why the Bearcats won’t struggle in back-to-back meetings in my free college basketball picks for West Virginia vs. Cincinnati on Tuesday, March 12.

West Virginia vs Cincinnati best odds

Enjoying Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account

West Virginia vs Cincinnati picks and predictions

The wins haven’t shown up for Cincinnati to close out the regular season, but the Bearcats have essentially hung around in every contest.

Since losing to West Virginia 69-65 on January 31, the Bearcats ended the year with just four wins in the final 10 games of the season. However, minus a blowout loss to TCU, their other five losses were by an average of just 5.8 points. Included in those were single-digit losses to top-ranked Houston (twice), 10th-ranked Iowa State, Oklahoma (in OT), and Oklahoma State.

All of that close-game frustration came out in a 92-56 obliteration of West Virginia, a game where Cincy’s top-flight defense — which allows just 67.8 points per game — shined through. The Bearcats offense shot 59% from the field while eclipsing 90 points for just the fourth time this season.

It’s been hard to try and find positives lately for the Mountaineers, who have just two wins in their last 13 games while allowing 90 points or more in three of the final four. Unlike the Bearcats, the Mountaineers have been getting wiped in Big 12 play. Eight of their last 11 losses have come by double digits.

The one positive is the win they do own over the Bearcats, where they held them to just 37.9% shooting from the field, including a 9-for-32 mark from 3-point range (28.1%). That appears to be one of the lone bright spots in what has been a disastrous season on defense.

The Mountaineers surrender 76.4 points per game, which ranks outside of the Top 300, while allowing teams to shoot 44.6% from the field (231st), and 34.7% from distance (258th).

Offensively, WVU is the lowest-scoring team in the Big 12, the only team unable to crack the 70-point average on the season.

Even if the Mountaineers summon up a better effort than last game — and really, there’s nowhere to go but up — oddsmakers are doing bettors a favor keeping it at this low a spread.

My best bet: Cincinnati -10.5 (-112 at DraftKings)

West Virginia vs Cincinnati same-game parlay

Cincinnati -10.5

Day Day Thomas Over 3.5 assists

Dan Skillings Jr. Over 1.5 made 3s

+365 at DraftKings

Bearcats point man Day Day Thomas was quite the set-up man in the last game against West Virginia, totaling seven assists and matching his season-best.

Thomas has been pretty consistent dishing of late, topping his line of 3.5 dimes in three out of the last four games, missing the total by a single assist in the loss to Oklahoma. He’s also surpassed this total in both games against the Mountaineers, even handing out four assists in the Jan. 31 loss.

West Virginia gets carved up by the pass, as they allow 15.4 assists per game, a lowly 341st ranking in the NCAA. Thomas could have this sewn up by halftime.

We’ll wrap this three-leg SGP with guard Dan Skillings Jr. and his attainable 1.5 3-point makes.

Skillings hasn’t passed this figure in six straight, but he’s been one make away in four of those, and his 0-fers were against the best two 3-point shooting defenses in the Big 12 in Houston and Oklahoma. Prior to this mini-funk, he’d hit at least two triples in five of six, including vs. elite squads in Iowa State, Houston, and Kansas.

Also in that mix is West Virginia, against whom he went 3-for-9 from beyond the arc. In what has all the makings of a blowout, Skillings should have ample opportunities to splash from distance.

Learn how to bet a same-game parlay with these helpful tips and strategies.

West Virginia vs Cincinnati spread and Over/Under analysis

This line opened at 8.5 points and climbed up to 9.5 until Monday night, when the books finally moved this spread to 10.5 points. There’s a very real chance this spread moves by even more come tip-off, so get your bets in early.

As for the total, it’s never dipped below 143 points, and has climbed as high as 144.5.

Despite cruising by this total in the last meeting, sites seem wary of moving this higher considering WVU’s bottom-feeding offense and Cincinnati potentially flashing an outlier performance, blowing way past their 74.8 ppg average.

West Virginia vs Cincinnati betting trend to know

West Virginia has only covered the spread in 12 of their last 32 games (-8.95 Units / -25% ROI). Find more college basketball betting trends for West Virginia vs. Cincinnati.

West Virginia vs Cincinnati game info

West Virginia vs Cincinnati key injuries

Stay updated with the latest picks, odds, and news! Tap the to add us to your favorites on Google News to never miss a story.

Pages related to this topic