Cincinnati vs. Baylor Picks, Lines and Prediction

Check out the insights and tips to win with the Cincinnati vs. Baylor Picks! → Cincinnati is on the wrong side of the 2025 NCAA Tournament bubble and Baylor on the right side of it as they meet in Big 12 action, with the Bearcats as short home favorites on the NCAAB odds but Baylor trying for the season sweep.

Baylor (16-11, 8-8 Big 12) is currently a No. 9 seed in the NCAA Tournament’s Midwest Region via ESPN Bracketology and facing No. 8 Oregon in Round 1. So the Bears can afford a loss, and we fully expect them in the Big Dance for the sixth straight year.

Opening Spread/Totals Subject to Change: Cincinnati -2.5 (total 140)
Expert Prediction: Cincinnati 72, Baylor 70.

Cincinnati vs. Baylor Picks, College Basketball betting lines & TV Info

NCAAB Moneylines: Baylor +126 / Cincinnati -154
When: Tuesday, 7 PM ET
Where: Fifth Third Arena
TV: ESPN2
Stream: ESPN+

How’s the Bearcats on the Bracket?

Cincinnati (16-11, 6-10 Big 12) probably would have to win this game and then Saturday at No. 5 Houston to have a realistic shot at an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, but most likely will have to win the Big 12 Tournament. Possible but very unlikely for Coach Mick Cronin’s club.

On Jan. 7 in Waco, Baylor was a 5.5-point favorite when it routed Cincinnati 68-48. Baylor only led 22-18 with eight minutes left in the first half before closing on a 13-2 run for a 15-point lead at the break. Cincinnati made just one of its last 10 first-half field goals. The closest Cincinnati got in the second half was 11 points, 39-28, after a 3-pointer by Dan Skillings Jr.

Norchad Omier and VJ Edgecombe each scored 18 points to lead the Bears. Josh Ojianwuna added 10 points and seven rebounds for Baylor, which shot 50% on 27-of-54 from the field, including 5-of-14 from deep, while holding the Bearcats to 35%. BU had a 29-27 margin in rebounds and a 40-16 edge in points in the paint. Skillings finished with 18 points and Okinawan Aziz Bandaogo scored 11 for UC.

Bears Haven’t Lost 3 Straight This Season

Baylor is on its second two-game skid of the season after a 76-74 upset defeat at Colorado on Saturday. The already-shorthanded Bears found themselves another man down when senior guard Jayden Nunn got sick and had a streak of consecutive games played stopped at 116. Baylor is 1-3 since losing 6-10 redshirt junior center Josh Ojianwuna to a season-ending knee injury.

Duke transfer Jeremy Roach was the only bench player in what amounted to a six-player rotation, but freshmen Jason Asemota and Marino Dubravcic played a combined 10 minutes, with Asemota scoring his first points (two) since Jan. 25 at Utah. Norchad Omier recorded his 15th double-double of the season and 83rd of his career with a game-high 18 points and 13 rebounds. Langston Love hit three 3-pointers and scored 17 points for Baylor. Love has struggled this season with a balky ankle, but Saturday marked his fourth start and fifth game total since returning from injury. Since the return, he’s topped 30 minutes while scoring at least 15 points in four of those five contests.

“We outrebounded them 15-5 (on the offensive glass),” Coach Scott Drew said of the Bears’ 19-7 edge in second-chance points. “Normally, that’s good enough to win it. But 36% from the field, their length must’ve bothered us, because we missed a lot of layups. … Too many missed layups, too many missed open shots. And most of all, we didn’t do a very good job defensively, when in the first half we were bad offensively but pretty good defensively. In the second half, we weren’t very good at all.”

There’s a good chance Nunn returns from his illness Tuesday. He’s averaging 9.1 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.0 steals this season.

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Penultimate Home Game For Bearcats

Cincinnati did keep its at-large NCAA Tournament hopes alive with Saturday’s 75-63 home win over TCU to snap a two-game skid. Day Thomas made a 3-pointer to begin a run of 13 straight Cincinnati points to open the game, while TCU went nearly six minutes without scoring and shooting 1 of 14 to start. The game was basically over. Up 20 points with 8:47 remaining in the game, the Bearcats had to withstand a determined Horned Frogs comeback. TCU briefly cut the lead to nine with 2:15 to go, but UC was able to maintain composure for the critical Big 12 victory.

Saturday’s rebounding advantage was 39-32 in favor of the Bearcats, with Dillon Mitchell hauling down a career-high 13 to go with 12 points. TCU had been 10-1 when out rebounding its opponents. Mitchell knows when UC gains the rebounding edge, they often prevail (10-4 this season).

“That’s going to help us win games,” Mitchell said. “We’ve been struggling with it recently. I kind of took it personally and tried to do my best. That’s all I was focusing on was trying to win the rebound war. I know if we can handle that, everything else will fall in place for us.”

Mitchell and Aziz Bandaogo are tied for fifth nationally with 57 dunks apiece. UC played a second straight game without starting forward Simas Lukosius due to a shoulder injury, and he’s unlikely for Tuesday. Head coach Wes Miller said this after Saturday’s win: “He’s been improving, in that it isn’t stagnant. He still can’t lift his arm over his shoulder.”

He averages 11.4 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. Connor Hickman recently had foot surgery, so the Bearcats were down two starters from their early season lineup on Saturday.

Baylor at Cincinnati NCAAB Expert Prediction

In the past seven games since moving into the starting lineup, UC’s Thomas is averaging 13.0 ppg with six double-figure scoring games. Over his first 17 games, he was 5.0 ppg with two in double-figures. He missed the first three games following a preseason foot injury.

Cincinnati has trailed only 21:42 out of its six Big 12 wins, leading by double-digits in all, and is 14-1 when leading at the half. BYU and Xavier are its two wins when trailing. Cincinnati has committed only 14 turnovers the last two games and rallied from a 2-of-7 foul line showing at WVU to go 15-for-17 against the Horned Frogs. The Bearcats last year averaged 12.0 turnovers per game (No. 202 nationally) but are 29th this year at 10.0 per contest. Cincinnati is 16-4 in its past 20 home games on a Tuesday.

Baylor is 4-0 all-time vs. Cincinnati. The Bears are 32-20 in Big 12 road games since 2019-20, the best mark in the league in that span. Baylor has 72 conference wins over the last six seasons, second only to Kansas’ 74, the next closest team in that span is Texas Tech with 58.

Shooting .748 from the line, the Bears are on pace for their best year at the charity stripe since 2004-05 (.750). Nine of Baylor’s 10 losses have come against teams that have been ranked in the top-10 at some point this season, while Gonzaga, Tennessee, UConn, Iowa State and Houston have been ranked in the top 4. nine of their 10 losses are Quad I losses. The Bears are 1-5 ATS in their past six games. Cincinnati 72, Baylor 70.

POLL ALERT: Preseason No. 1 Kansas falls out of AP Top 25, ending 80-week poll run; Auburn-Duke are 1-2, St. John's up to No. 7.

Full poll: https://t.co/ZJG5mgWZhI pic.twitter.com/kAsab2sL81
— AP Top 25 (@AP_Top25) February 24, 2025

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