Miami (FL) vs Louisville Prediction 2/8/25 College Basketball Picks

The Miami Hurricanes and the Louisville Cardinals meet Saturday in college basketball action from the KFC Yum! Center. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Miami vs. Louisville prediction.

Miami Recap

The Miami Hurricanes come into this game looking to build on a 63-57 upset win over Notre Dame last time out to improve to 5-17 on the year. After this game, Miami will head home for a game against the Syracuse Orange.

Hurricanes Snap Ugly Losing Streak

Matthew Cleveland leads the Hurricanes in scoring with 15.7 PPG with 4.4 RPG while Nijel Pack has 13.9 PPG with 3 RPG and 4.3 APG. Lynn Kidd has 10.9 PPG with 6.7 RPG to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for Miami up to this point in the year. Jalen Blackmon has 7.3 PPG while Brandon Johnson has 8.1 PPG with a team-high 6.9 RPG of his own to lead Miami in rebounding up to this point in the year. Jalil Bethea has 6.8 PPG as well so far this season for the ‘Canes. As a team, Miami is averaging 75.4 PPG on 46.3% shooting from the field, 32% from three, and 77.3% from the foul line this season.

Why the Miami Hurricanes will win

• Louisville has lost eight of its last nine day games against the Atlantic Coast Conference at KFC Yum! Center.
• Miami (FL) has won four of its last five games against Louisville.

Louisville Recap

The Louisville Cardinals come into this game looking to keep the ball rolling after ending up with an 84-58 win over Boston College last time out to improve to 17-6 on the year. After this game, Louisville will head back on the road for a game against NC State.

Cardinals Win 9 Of Last 10

Chucky Hepburn leads the Cardinals in scoring and assists with 15.1 PPG and 6.4 APG along with 3.5 RPG and 2.4 SPG while Reyne Smith has 14 PPG with 3.2 RPG and Kasean Pryor has 12 PPG with 6.1 RPG, but is expected to miss the rest of the season with an injury. Terrence Edwards Jr. has 13.9 PPG with 3.8 RPG and 2.2 APG and J’Vonne Hadley also has 11.9 PPG with a team-high 7.3 RPG to lead the Cardinals on the glass, also rounding out the group of double-digit scorers for Louisville so far this season. As a team, Louisville is averaging 78.6 PPG on 43.7% shooting from the field, 31.8% from three, and 73.2% from the foul line this season.

Why the Louisville Cardinals will win

• Miami (FL) has lost 20 of its last 21 games against the Atlantic Coast Conference.
• Louisville has won each of its last nine home games against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Total Points Facts

• Six of Louisville’s last seven home games against Conference opponents have produced a total of 148 or fewer points.
• Four of Miami (FL)’s last five games at KFC Yum! Center has produced a total of 137 or fewer points.

Miami vs. Louisville Prediction

I’m with Louisville here. The Cardinals are just the better team by a mile, and we’ve seen the Hurricanes get beat up on multiple occasions this season. Miami has a decent enough offense, but the defense is leaky and that’s not what you want against a Louisville team that’s started to find an identity in conference play, and that identity is butt-kickers. The 9 wins that Louisville has in their last ten games have all been by double-digits, including 4 wins by 20+ points. I just don’t see Miami holding up against Louisville’s 3-point barrage and I think the Cardinals rain down threes on Miami here to get the win and cover.