Lamar Cardinals vs McNeese Cowboys Prediction, 1/2/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Lamar Cardinals vs McNeese Cowboys

Date: Friday, January 2, 2026

Location: Townsley Law Arena in Lake Charles, LA

TV: ESPN+

The Lamar Cardinals (5-6) are on their way to Townsley Law Arena on Friday where they will try to defeat the McNeese Cowboys (10-2).

The Lamar Cardinals stepped onto the hardwood against Omaha and took a loss by a final of 85-82 in their last contest. With respect to fouls, the Cardinals ended up with 17 while Omaha racked up 21 fouls. They also buried 9 of their 26 attempts from three-point range. Omaha went 80.0% at the free throw line by burying 20 of their 25 tries. Furthermore, Omaha had 27 rebounds (6 offensive, 21 defensive), but wasn't able to record a rejection. Omaha doled out 14 assists and had 8 steals for this game. In relation to defending, Lamar let their opponent shoot 51.9% from the floor on 28 of 54 shooting. They also recorded 19 dimes for this contest in addition to creating 13 turnovers and earning 9 steals. Concerning rebounding, they collected 34 with 13 of them being of the offensive variety. When they shot from the free throw line, the Cardinals converted 15 of 20 attempts for a percentage of 75.0%. Lamar ended the game having earned a 46.4% FG percentage (32 of 69) and made 3 out of their 16 three-point shots.

Rob Lee Jr. is a player who had an impact in the game. He walked away from this one shooting 56.3% from the field and dished out 3 dimes. He was on the court for 35 minutes and totaled 2 boards. He notched 24 points on 9 of 16 shooting.

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Lamar heads into this game with a mark of 5-6 so far this season. They are averaging 72.9 pts per game (284th in college) while shooting 43.6% from the field. The Cardinals are hitting 32.4% on shots from 3-point land (78 of 241) and 67.4% from the charity stripe. As a unit, Lamar is pulling down 37.9 rebounds per contest and has totaled 178 assists on the season, which is 230th in the nation in terms of passing the ball. They turn the ball over 12.2 times per contest and as a unit they are committing 17.5 fouls per contest.

On the defensive end of the court, the Cardinals are forcing 14.5 turnovers per contest and they draw 15.5 fouls. They are ranked 37th in college in allowing assists to their opponents with 135 surrendered for the campaign. The Cardinals defense is giving up a FG percentage of 43.3% (260 of 600) and they concede 34.4 rebounds per game as a unit. They concede 35.6% on shots from downtown while they are 86th in college in opponents PPG (68.9).

The last time they took the court, the McNeese Cowboys went home victorious with a score of 78-68 when they faced Houston Christian. The Cowboys recorded 23 defensive rebounds and 7 offensive rebounds totaling 30 in this matchup. They also coughed it up 8 times, while recording 5 steals in the game. Houston Christian had 13 personal fouls for this contest which got the Cowboys to the free throw line for a total of 9 attempts. They were able to knock down 7 of the free throw tries for a percentage of 77.8%. In relation to shooting from beyond the arc, McNeese converted 7 out of their 21 tries (33.3%). Overall, the Cowboys finished the game shooting 32 out of 54 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 59.3%. The Cowboys allowed Houston Christian to knock down 22 of their 55 tries from the floor which gave them a rate of 40.0% for the matchup. They finished 43.5% from 3-point land via 10 out of 23 and finished the game at 14 of 17 at the free throw line (82.4%). In reference to attacking the glass, McNeese allowed Houston Christian to collect 23 overall (10 on the offensive glass).

Larry Johnson ended up being a major contributor for the Cowboys for the game. He converted 10 out of 15 for this game for a rate of 66.7%, and accounted for 6 rebounds. He racked up 22 points in his 33 minutes on the court and tallied 1 assist in this matchup.

McNeese has a mark of 10-2 on the year. As an offense, the Cowboys are hitting on 51.4% from the floor, which is ranked 20th in college. McNeese has totaled 1,056 pts this season (88.0 per game) and they pull in 36.7 boards per contest. They are earning an assist 16.8 times per contest (72nd in college) and they are turning it over 10.3 times per contest. The Cowboys are responsible for committing 18.6 personal fouls per contest and they go 77.9% from the charity stripe.

The Cowboys on the defensive end are ranked 29th in college in points given up per game with 65.6. They are forcing 18.4 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 38.4% from the field (21st in college). The McNeese defense concedes 33.2% on shots from 3-point land (112 of 337) and opponents are converting on 70.8% of their free throw attempts. They have conceded 12.1 dimes and 32.1 boards every game, which is ranked 89th and 76th in the country.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take McNeese

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