The Cincinnati Bearcats and UCF Knights continue Big 12 Conference men’s basketball action on Wednesday, Feb. 5th, 2025, in Orlando, Florida.
Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. central on CBS. Both Cincinnati (12-9, 2-8 in Big 12) and UCF (13-8, 4-6) are unranked.
Wednesday’s matchup between UCF and Cincinnati comes at a time when both teams find themselves in a downward spiral. Cincinnati has been one of the biggest letdowns of any Big 12 team this season and enters the game on a four-game losing streak. UCF is also struggling lately, dropping four of their last five games.
Here is a preview of the game.
How to Watch Cincinnati vs. UCF
Date: Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025
Time: 6 p.m. CT
TV Channel: CBS
Site: Addition Financial Arena, Orlando, Florida
Cincinnati vs. UCF Betting Odds, Lines
Opening Line: UCF -3
Current Line: UCF -3
Over/Under: 146.5
Cincinnati vs. UCF State Predictions
Following a 63-50 loss to West Virginia, Cincinnati head coach Wes Miller chewed out his squad for providing some awful effort on the basketball court. The team looked outclassed wire-to-wire by the Mountaineers and could not get anything going on offense. They shot 31.5% from the field and turned the basketball over 14 times.
They now hope to flip that narrative against a UCF team fighting to get off the bubble and into the NCAA Tournament field. Cincinnati has four double-digit scorers on their roster at the moment, with Simas Lukosius, Dan Skillings Jr., Dillon Mitchell, and Jizzle James combining for 43.1 points per game. They will need every bit of it to pull off their first road win since January 15th vs. Colorado.
On the opposite side of the court, UCF enters a crucial stretch of basketball in the month of February. They’ve been fading fast on the bubble in Joe Lunardi’s latest bracketology updates and desperately need to win to remain afloat. They are led by the talented trio of Keyshawn Hall, Darius Johnson, and Jordan Ivy-Curry, who are posting 47.4 points per night.
When looking at statistics, surprisingly, things look pretty even for the pair. Each team has one glaring advantage over the other: UCF’s fifth-ranked offense stands largely above Cincinnati’s 14th-ranked unit, while Cincinnati has the second-best defense in the Big 12, and the Knights have the worst. The home favorite feels like the smart pick in a game that appears to be a statistical tossup.
UCF 73, Cincinnati 69
ESPN Matchup Predictor: UCF (51.7% Chance of Winning)
Odds Shark: Cincinnati 79, UCF 67
