Louisville at Virginia college basketball odds, picks and best bets

Previewing Saturday’s Louisville at Virginia sports betting odds and lines, with NCAA matchup analysis, picks and tips.

The Louisville Cardinals (24-6, 15-4 ACC) and Virginia Cavaliers (22-7, 14-5) close out their respective regular-season campaigns with a Saturday-afternoon (4 p.m. ET) ACC contest in Charlottesville, Va. We analyze the Louisville-Virginia odds and betting lines, with college basketball betting advice and tips around this matchup.

Louisville at Virginia: Three things you need to know

1. The 10th-ranked (USA Today Sports Coaches Poll) Louisville Cardinals need a win combined with a Florida State loss at Boston College (4:30 p.m. ET tip) to claim the ACC regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming conference tournament. The Cardinals lost at FSU two games back and head into their regular-season finale on a three-game road losing streak.

2. The No. 22 Virginia Cavaliers head into Saturday’s game on a roll. The Wahoos have won seven straight dating back to a Feb. 8 loss to Louisville. UL defeated UVA, 80-73, in that one. The Cards controlled the game until the nine-minute mark of the second half when Virginia started to make a move. The Wahoos would eventually worth their way to a two-point lead, but UL would limit the Cavs to one field goal over the last three minutes. Close games are certainly not foreign to UVA. In seven games since, Virginia hasn’t lost. In six of those wins, the Cavaliers won by one score.

3. The Cards have underperformed against teams that are strong on the offensive glass. UVA doesn’t seem to fit that bill: the Cavaliers ranks 210th in the nation in offensive rebounding and 347th in second-chance points after offensive boards. Louisville was a plus-10 in rebounding margin when the teams met in Louisville Feb. 8.


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Louisville at Virginia: Odds, betting lines and picks

Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 11:10 a.m. ET.

Prediction

Louisville 60, Virginia 56

Moneyline (ML)

WILL PASS ON LOUISVILLE +110 as a straight-up play.

Against the Spread (ATS)

In their last meeting, the Cardinals and Cavaliers were both lights-out in their shooting accuracy — the Wahoos unsustainably so. UVA shot 53.1 percent (26-for-49) from the floor and 50 percent (11-for-22) from three-point range.

WILL BACK LOUISVILLE +1 (+105).

Over/Under (O/U)

These programs rank 1-2 in ACC defense (UVA No. 1, UL No. 2). Combined, they yield 116.2 points per game. In their Feb. 8 meeting, hot shooting cycled the final total 153 points.

Both sides have trended toward the Over of late, and that’s the moderate-confidence play for Saturday: OVER 113.5 (-121).

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