Gardner-Webb vs. UConn Prediction, Men's College Basketball Odds & Best Bets (11/2)

Fact checked at 8:48 AM ET, Nov 2, 2026

Odds as of 8:47 AM ET, Nov 2, 2026

Fourth-ranked UConn opens its season against Gardner-Webb at 9:00 PM ET at PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford, one of its home floors. UConn is a 38.5-point favorite and should win easily. We just think it wins the way Dan Hurley's teams usually beat low-major opponents: by somewhere in the 20s or 30s, in a game that finishes in the low 140s, with the bench playing a lot and a rematch of the national title game against Michigan coming later this week. That makes it Gardner-Webb with the points and the Under. Picture something like 88-55.

Both teams are 0-0, and Gardner-Webb has 11 newcomers and only three returners from a team that went 4-29 last season, so last season's numbers say little about this roster. UConn's lineup is projected, not announced: Braylon Mullins, Silas Demary Jr., Jayden Ross, Nik Khamenia and Na'jai Hines, with Colben Landrew off the bench. Mullins missed the first two exhibitions with an undisclosed injury, played in the third and is expected to play.

Gardner-Webb vs. UConn Predictions

• Pick #1: Gardner-Webb +38.5 (-110)
• Pick #2: Under 147.5 (-110)

PICK #1: Gardner-Webb +38.5 (-110)

Hurley's record against overmatched nonconference opponents says this number is a little too big. UConn played 10 of those games over the last two seasons and won by more than 38.5 in four. The margins were 36, 39, 41, 35 and 54 two seasons ago, then 24, 63, 27, 23 and 24 last season, starting with a 79-55 opener against New Haven. The median is 35.5. Those were other rosters, but Hurley was running all of them.

He'll also be spreading the minutes around. "We've got six starters," he said after the exhibition win over Purdue. "One of those guys is going to have to come off the bench, but all of them will play starter minutes." Behind those six and backup center Oskar Giltay, Junior County and Nils Machowski have played the most, and this is the kind of night when the deeper bench gets a look. Michigan, which beat UConn for last season's title, is the next game on the schedule.

You're paying -110, so this has to cover 52.4% of the time. We'd put it a little higher than that, though not by much.

What hurts this pick is UConn going all out for 40 minutes. Hurley said the preparation is "absolutely the same" for every opponent, and Demary wants to "cause havoc the whole game." One widely used preseason rating has Gardner-Webb 350th of 365 Division I teams. Last season's team, most of which is gone, lost by 42 at Tennessee and 38 at Clemson. And UConn's 110-47 win over UMass Lowell shows how ugly one of these can get.

PICK #2: Under 147.5 (-110)

Those same 10 games back the Under, too. Seven finished below 147.5, combined scores ran from 121 to 157, and the median was 143. The three that went over (148 against Sacred Heart, 151 against Columbia and 157 against UMass Lowell) all needed UConn to score at least 89.

UConn also looked sharp on defense in exhibitions, which only go so far, holding Syracuse to 52 and Michigan State to 70, and it wants turnovers. Gardner-Webb's new roster hasn't played a game together yet, and it goes on to Texas after this.

At -110 the implied chance is 52.4%. This pick wants the same game as the first one: UConn in control early, the bench in, and no reason to push the pace late.

Two things could break it. Hurley wants "a better push in transition" this season, and more of that means more possessions. UConn's centers, Hines and Giltay, have each fouled out of an exhibition, and a game full of free throws adds points even at a slow pace. If Mullins sits, UConn loses a scorer, and both picks get a little better.

21+ (18+ where permitted). Odds subject to change. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER.