Akron Zips vs Miami RedHawks Prediction, 1/3/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Akron Zips vs Miami RedHawks

Date: Saturday, January 3, 2026

Location: Millett Hall in Oxford, OH

TV: ESPN+

Millett Hall is the location where the Miami RedHawks (14-0) will try to defeat the Akron Zips (10-3) on Saturday.

The Akron Zips faced Concord University and went home with a win by a final score of 115-64 in their last contest. Concerning personal fouls, the Zips ended up walking away with 9 while Concord University finished the game with 12 personal fouls. They converted 14 of 38 attempts from beyond the arc. Concord University finished the contest at 75.0% from the charity stripe by making 6 of their 8 attempts. In addition, Concord University snagged 25 rebounds (8 offensive, 17 defensive), but wrapped up the game with no rejections. Concord University earned 16 dimes and had 4 steals for this game. Regarding the defense, Akron allowed the other team to go 33.3% from the field on 22 of 66 shooting. They also dished out 23 assists for the game while forcing 19 turnovers and earning 14 steals. With respect to hauling in rebounds, they compiled a total of 39 with 8 of them being of the offensive sort. From the charity stripe, the Zips converted 13 of 15 tries for a rate of 86.7%. Akron walked away from the contest having earned a 63.9% field goal percentage (46 of 72) and buried 10 out of their 26 3-pointers.

Tavari Johnson is one player who came through in this matchup. He finished with 28 points on 11 out of 20 shooting. He played 25 minutes and collected 3 boards. He ended up shooting 55.0% from the floor and also distributed 6 dimes.

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Akron enters this game with a win-loss record of 10-3 on the campaign. They average 97.1 points per outing (2nd in the country) while shooting 53.2% from the floor. The Zips are hitting 38.6% from downtown (140 of 363) and 75.4% from the charity stripe. As a team, Akron is collecting 39.0 boards per contest and is sitting with 274 assists so far this season, which is 10th in college hoops in terms of passing the ball. They are turning it over 9.8 times per contest and as a team they commit 15.6 personal fouls every game.

On the defensive end, the Zips are able to force 14.5 turnovers per contest while drawing 15.7 personal fouls. They give up 34.7% from 3-point land and they are ranked 268th in college in points per game allowed (76.8). The Zips defensively are allowing a FG percentage of 42.1% (351 of 833) and they concede 33.8 boards per game as a group. They are currently ranked 237th in the nation in allowing assists with 190 relinquished for the campaign.

The last time they took the court, the Miami RedHawks took home the win by a final score of 93-83 when they played Bowling Green. When discussing rebounding, Miami allowed Bowling Green to get 22 in total (8 offensive). They finished the game shooting 22.7% from behind the 3-point line by going 5 of 22 and finished the contest at 16 of 23 from the free throw line (69.6%). The RedHawks permitted Bowling Green to make 31 of 63 attempts from the field which gave them a rate of 49.2% for the game. When the final whistle was blown, the RedHawks went 30 for 55 from the field which had them shooting 54.5%. In terms of shots from distance, Miami made 11 out of 23 tries (47.8%). They were able to convert 22 of the free throw attempts for a clip of 91.7%. Bowling Green committed 20 personal fouls for the matchup which took the RedHawks to the charity stripe for a total of 24 shots. They coughed up the ball 15 times, while getting 6 steals for this game. The RedHawks collected 25 defensive rebounds and 7 offensive rebounds totaling 32 in this contest.

Brant Byers ended up being a major contributor for the RedHawks in this matchup. He had 17 points in his 36 minutes on the hardwood, but didn't get an assist. He made 6 out of 11 in this contest giving him a field goal percentage of 54.5%, and had 6 rebounds.

Miami has a win-loss mark of 14-0 so far this season. The RedHawks are committing 16.1 fouls per contest and they go 77.8% from the charity stripe. They are dishing out assists 18.1 times per game (38th in Division 1) and they turn it over 11.0 times per game. Miami has earned 1,329 pts this season (94.9 per game) and they average 36.7 rebounds per game. When it comes to offense, the RedHawks are connecting on 54.6% from the floor, which is ranked 1st in the country.

The RedHawks are ranked 154th in the country in PPG allowed with 71.9. They are able to force 13.7 turnovers on a nightly basis and have allowed teams to shoot 41.6% from the field (93rd in college hoops). The Miami defense allows 31.0% on 3-point attempts (104 of 336) and their opposition makes 74.4% of their shots from the charity stripe. They have surrendered 12.5 assists and 31.1 boards per game, which has them ranked 116th and 48th in Division 1.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Miami

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