Cincinnati vs Xavier Prediction 12/5/2025 Today’s College Basketball Picks

The Cincinnati Bearcats and the Xavier Musketeers meet Friday in college basketball action from Cintas Center. Here’s a Cincinnati vs Xavier prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Cincinnati vs Xavier pick. We will examine the recent form and player performances for both teams, as well as the recent betting trends and streaks pertaining to this matchup. As we conclude, we will tie it all together with a summary that produces a sensible pick for a favorable betting outcome in this game.

Cincinnati Bearcats Betting Preview

Cincinnati opened the year on a nice run but they’ve been pretty spotty over the last four. The Bearcats took out Western Carolina, Georgia State, Dayton and Mount St. Mary’s in succession during an unbeaten 4-0 start. Cincinnati is just 2-2 since then though. The wins in that time were over NJIT and Tarleton State; the losses otherwise came versus Louisville and Eastern Michigan. Over eight games so far that gives the Bearcats a 6-2 record overall.

In their latest matchup versus Tarleton State on Monday, the Bearcats came out of the locker room with a two-point edge. Cincinnati hit a 45-29 run the rest of the way, resulting in a 76-58 win in the end. Tops in scoring was Kerr Kriisa with 20 points and three assists. Day Day Thomas put up 19 points with six assists and five boards, while Baba Miller doubled up on 13 points with 11 rebounds and three assists in 30 minutes of work on the court.

Xavier Musketeers Betting Preview

Over on the Xavier side, they opened the season on a .500 run but they’ve been better over the last few games. The Musketeers hit a 3-3 stretch out of the gate in their first half-dozen appearances, taking wins over Marist, Le Moyne and Old Dominion. The losses otherwise were versus Santa Clara, Iowa and Georgia. Since then Xavier has won three straight, dispatching West Virginia, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Saint Francis in that time. Through their first nine games of the season that gives the Musketeers a 6-3 overall record so far.

Matched up against Saint Francis on Monday, the Musketeers went into halftime with a 44-33 edge. Xavier outscored the Flash 52-41 the rest of the way, cruising to a 96-74 win in the end. Tops in scoring was Roddie Anderson with 28 points, five rebounds and five assists. Tre Carroll added 21 points with six boards and four assists while All Wright had 15 points with three assists and two rebounds.

Cincinnati Bearcats @ Xavier Musketeers Betting Trends: December 5, 2025

Why the Xavier Musketeers will win

• Cincinnati has lost each of its last seven road night games against the Big East Conference.
• Xavier has won 12 of its last 13 games at Cintas Center.
• Cincinnati has lost the first half in 10 of its last 11 road games against the Big East Conference.

Why the Cincinnati Bearcats will win

• Cincinnati has won six of its last seven games against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Cincinnati vs Xavier Prediction

I’ll stay with Xavier. The Musketeers got past a struggling St. Francis PA team pretty easily in their last outing, thanks to 49.4 percent shooting from the field and a 41-30 rebounding edge. The 23 team assists certainly helped, as did the 48-28 advantage on points in the paint. During this three-game win streak the Musketeers have been scoring very well. They’ve got 78 or more points in each outing, and 77 or more points in five straight (a 4-1 run) overall.

As for the Bearcats, they had a pretty easy game against Tarleton State on 46.4 percent shooting and a 37-18 rebounding edge. Cincinnati did cough up a whopping 20 turnovers though, and missed six of their 15 free throws (60 percent)—not to mention the 20-18 deficit in the paint. All things considered though, it was a nice bounce-back after an eight-point loss to Eastern Michigan. Cincinnati has been below 65 points in two of the last four games though, so it’d be nice to see them crack the 70-point mark here if they’re going to compete.

Andrew Jett's Pick: Xavier Musketeers -1.5