Bucknell Bison vs Iowa Hawkeyes Prediction, 12/20/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Bucknell Bison vs Iowa Hawkeyes

Date: Saturday, December 20, 2025

Location: Casey's Center in Des Moines, IA

TV: ESPN+

The Iowa Hawkeyes (9-2) will go up against the Bucknell Bison (3-9) at Casey's Center on Saturday.

The Bucknell Bison faced Rider and walked away with a win by a score of 51-38 in their last game. In regard to fouls, the Bison finished with 13 and Rider recorded 12 fouls. They also made 3 out of their 13 tries from downtown. Rider ended up going 33.3% when shooting free throws by making 3 of their 9 attempts. Furthermore, Rider pulled down 29 rebounds (6 offensive, 23 defensive), but wrapped up the game with no rejections. Rider recorded 3 assists and had 7 steals in this matchup. In regard to defense, Bucknell allowed 34.0% from the field on 16 of 47 shooting. They also recorded 10 dimes for the contest in addition to forcing the opposition into 15 turnovers and getting 9 steals. When it comes to grabbing rebounds, they collected 30 with 5 of them being offensive. At the charity stripe, the Bison converted 6 of 8 attempts for a percentage of 75.0%. Bucknell ended the game with a 37.7% field goal percentage (20 out of 53) and converted 5 of 24 3-pointers.

Achile Spadone is someone who played a role in this contest. He recorded 14 points on 6 of 14 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 37 minutes and grabbed 5 boards. He finished shooting 42.9% from the field and earned 3 dimes.

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Bucknell comes into this one with a mark of 3-9 for the year. They average 66.1 points per outing (345th in Division 1) on 40.1% from the field. The Bison are shooting 32.0% on shots from beyond the arc (94 of 294) and 73.4% from the charity stripe. As a unit, Bucknell is grabbing 32.8 rebounds per game and has totaled 146 dimes for the year, which has them ranked 254th in the country in terms of passing the ball. They are losing possession via turnover 13.5 times per game and as a team they commit 18.3 fouls per contest.

Defensively, the Bison have forced 12.3 turnovers per game while drawing 17.5 personal fouls. They give up 40.3% on shots from downtown and they are ranked 262nd in the nation in points per game allowed (76.8). The Bison defensively are giving up a field goal percentage of 47.5% (317 of 668) and they surrender 35.5 boards per contest as a team. They are currently ranked 339th in college hoops in giving up assists to their opponents with 192 conceded on the season.

When they last stepped on the court, the Iowa Hawkeyes walked away with a victory by a final of 91-51 when they played Western Michigan. When discussing rebounding, Iowa permitted Western Michigan to get 30 in all (10 offensive). They shot 25.0% from three-point range by going 6 out of 24 and ended up going 11 out of 22 from the free throw line (50.0%). The Hawkeyes allowed Western Michigan to make 17 of their 57 attempts from the floor which had them shooting 29.8% for the game. At the conclusion of this game, the Hawkeyes ended up shooting 33 out of 59 from the field which had them at 55.9%. Pertaining to shots from 3-point land, Iowa knocked down 14 of their 31 attempts (45.2%). They were able to bury 11 of the free throws for a rate of 64.7%. Western Michigan earned 18 fouls in this game which got the Hawkeyes to the free throw line for 17 shots. They turned it over 6 times, while recording 5 steals in the game. The Hawkeyes earned 27 defensive boards and 9 offensive boards for a total of 36 for the contest.

Alvaro Folgueiras ended up having an impact for the Hawkeyes in this game. He tallied 13 points in his 16 minutes on the hardwood and had 1 assist in the matchup. He buried 5 of 9 for the contest giving him a field goal percentage of 55.6%, and had 4 rebounds.

Iowa has a win-loss record of 9-2 for the year. The Hawkeyes are committing 19.2 fouls every game and they hit 72.8% from the charity stripe. They are dishing out assists 17.3 times per contest (55th in college) and they are turning it over 10.2 times per contest. Iowa has 872 points on the season (79.3 per contest) and they grab 30.8 boards per game. When it comes to offense, the Hawkeyes are hitting on 52.1% from the field, which has them ranked 10th in the country.

The Iowa defense allows 31.3% on shots from beyond the arc (63 of 201) and opponents are knocking down 69.2% of their free throw attempts. They have conceded 9.3 dimes and 29.0 boards on a nightly basis, which ranks 7th and 5th in college hoops. The Hawkeyes on the defensive side of the court are 9th in college hoops in points allowed per game with 61.8. They are forcing their opponents into 14.8 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 42.0% from the field (120th in college).

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Bucknell

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