Niagara Purple Eagles vs VCU Rams Prediction, 12/15/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Niagara Purple Eagles vs VCU Rams

Date: Monday, December 15, 2025

Location: Siegel Center in Richmond, VA

TV: ESPN+

The Niagara Purple Eagles (2-7) are headed to Siegel Center on Monday where they will go up against the VCU Rams (6-3).

The Niagara Purple Eagles faced St. Peter's and ended up losing by a score of 71-43 in their last contest. When discussing fouls, the Purple Eagles left the arena with 11 while St. Peter's had 17 fouls. They knocked down 8 out of their 20 tries from 3-point range. St. Peter's finished the game shooting 78.6% from the charity stripe by converting 11 of 14 attempts. In addition, St. Peter's collected 31 rebounds (10 offensive, 21 defensive), but wasn't able to put a block in the stat sheet. St. Peter's recorded 13 dimes and had 13 steals in this game. In reference to defense, Niagara allowed the other team to shoot 47.3% from the field on 26 of 55 shooting. They also doled out 8 assists for the matchup in addition to forcing the other team into 9 turnovers and having 5 steals. In relation to rebounding, they earned 27 with 8 of them being of the offensive sort. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Purple Eagles knocked down 12 of their 14 attempts for a rate of 85.7%. Niagara ended the game having earned a 31.1% FG percentage (14 out of 45) and knocked down 3 of their 16 3-point attempts.

Justin Hawkins is a player who was a major factor for the game. He scored 10 points on 4 of 9 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 23 minutes played and also totaled 3 boards. He ended up going 44.4% from the field and dished out 2 assists.

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Niagara steps onto the hardwood with a win-loss mark of 2-7 on the season. They lose possession by turning the ball over 12.9 times per game and as a unit are committing 16.3 fouls per game. As a unit, Niagara is grabbing 28.3 boards per game and has earned 105 dimes for the year, which has them ranked 341st in the country in terms of passing the rock. The Purple Eagles are hitting 29.3% on shots from 3-point land (56 of 191) and 70.3% from the free throw line. They average 60.1 points per contest (361st in college) on 40.2% from the field.

On defense, the Purple Eagles are able to force 10.9 turnovers per game and they draw 17.9 personal fouls. They rank 198th in the nation in giving up assists with 129 conceded on the year. The Purple Eagles defensively are giving up a field goal percentage of 46.5% (228 of 490) and they relinquish 36.0 rebounds per contest as a team. They are conceding 38.2% on 3-point shots and they are 235th in Division 1 in opponents points per game (75.2).

When they last stepped on the court, the VCU Rams took a loss by a final score of 81-78 against New Mexico. The Rams collected 18 defensive rebounds and 15 offensive rebounds totaling 33 in this contest. They also coughed it up 9 times, while getting 9 steals for the matchup. New Mexico was called for 21 personal fouls for this game which took the Rams to the charity stripe for 28 shots. They were able to make 23 of those for a rate of 82.1%. In terms of 3-point shots, VCU converted 7 of 26 tries (26.9%). At the conclusion of this game, the Rams finished shooting 24 for 62 from the field which had them sitting at 38.7%. The Rams permitted New Mexico to knock down 27 of their 54 tries from the floor which had them shooting 50.0% for the contest. They wrapped up this game 44.4% from 3-point land by shooting 8 out of 18 and finished the game at 19 of 22 from the free throw line (86.4%). With respect to cleaning up the glass, VCU allowed New Mexico to snag 29 in total (6 offensive).

Nyk Lewis ended up being a major contributor for the Rams in this matchup. He converted 5 of 11 for this contest giving him a rate of 45.5%, and had 3 rebounds. He tallied 14 points in his 25 mins on the court and had 1 assist for the matchup.

VCU has a mark of 6-3 for the season. In terms of offensive execution, the Rams are shooting 45.0% from the floor, which has them ranked 207th in college. VCU has tallied 759 points for the year (84.3 per game) and they pull in 39.2 rebounds per game. Their rate of earning assists is at 15.4 times per contest (137th in the nation) and they are losing possession via turnover 12.9 times per game. The Rams commit 18.6 personal fouls every game while shooting 69.8% from the charity stripe.

The VCU defense gives up 33.1% on shots from behind the 3-point line (55 of 166) and opponents are knocking down 71.0% of their free throw attempts. They have allowed 12.2 assists and 36.7 total boards per game, which is 114th and 265th in those categories. The Rams are ranked 131st in college in points per game surrendered with 70.9. They are able to force 14.4 turnovers per game and have let teams shoot 41.1% from the field (94th in college).

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Niagara

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