Chattanooga Mocs vs VMI Keydets Prediction, 1/3/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Chattanooga Mocs vs VMI Keydets

Date: Saturday, January 3, 2026

Location: Cameron Hall in Lexington, VA

TV: ESPN+

The Chattanooga Mocs (6-7) are traveling to Cameron Hall on Saturday where they will take on the VMI Keydets (5-8).

The Chattanooga Mocs stepped onto the hardwood against Alabama A&M and notched a win by a score of 73-66 in their last contest. In the matter of personal fouls, the Mocs walked away with 21 and Alabama A&M recorded 20 personal fouls. They made 5 of 19 tries from distance. Alabama A&M finished the contest at 73.9% from the free throw line by burying 17 of their 23 attempts. Moreover, Alabama A&M pulled down 34 rebounds (8 offensive, 26 defensive), but didn't record a block for the team. Alabama A&M distributed 12 dimes and had 5 steals in this game. When talking about the defense, Chattanooga let their opponent shoot 40.0% from the field on 22 out of 55 shooting. They also recorded 16 dimes for this contest in addition to forcing the other team into 8 turnovers and getting 4 steals. In reference to rebounding, they earned a total of 32 with 5 of them being of the offensive variety. At the free throw line, the Mocs buried 11 of 16 attempts for a rate of 68.8%. Chattanooga wrapped up the game with a 48.1% field goal percentage (25 of 52) and converted 12 out of their 26 three-point attempts.

Jordan Frison is a guy who was a major contributor for this contest. He recorded 27 points on 8 out of 13 shooting. He saw the court for 36 mins and pulled down 9 boards. He finished the game shooting 61.5% from the floor and also totaled 5 dimes.

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Chattanooga heads into this matchup with a win-loss record of 6-7 on the year. They are averaging 77.7 pts per game (183rd in Division 1) while shooting 44.8% from the floor. The Mocs are shooting 35.1% on shots from beyond the arc (146 of 416) and 74.6% from the charity stripe. As a unit, Chattanooga is pulling in 34.3 boards per game and has accumulated 216 dimes on the season, which is 108th in the nation in terms of passing. They turn it over 9.5 times per contest and as a group are committing 18.0 fouls per contest.

When they are on defense, the Mocs are forcing 11.3 turnovers every game while drawing 16.3 fouls. They currently rank 120th in D-1 in giving up assists with 168 relinquished on the campaign. The Mocs defense is giving up a field goal percentage of 41.9% (312 of 744) and they concede 35.2 rebounds per game as a unit. They are giving up 31.6% on shots from beyond the arc and they rank 139th in D-1 in opponents points per game (71.3).

For their last game, the VMI Keydets took a defeat with a final score of 97-90 against Radford. In reference to rebounds, VMI permitted Radford to grab 31 overall (11 offensive). They went 44.0% from three-point range by shooting 11 out of 25 and walked away from this one shooting 32 out of 40 at the free throw line (80.0%). The Keydets allowed Radford to knock down 27 of their 49 tries from the field which had them at 55.1% in the matchup. When all was said and done, the Keydets shot 27 out of 56 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 48.2%. With regard to shots from downtown, VMI converted 11 out of their 24 attempts (45.8%). They were able to bury 25 of them for a percentage of 89.3%. Radford had 21 personal fouls for this game which got the Keydets to the charity stripe for 28 attempts. They gave up possession 13 times, while earning 7 steals for the matchup. The Keydets corralled 21 defensive boards and 8 offensive boards for a total of 29 in this game.

TJ Johnson ended up being a major contributor for the Keydets in the game. He accumulated 21 points in his 37 mins on the court and added 1 assist for this game. He knocked down 5 of 11 for the contest for a rate of 45.5%, and totaled 4 rebounds.

VMI has a mark of 5-8 for the season. The Keydets are committing 17.3 fouls per game and they hit 72.9% from the charity stripe. They are dishing out assists 13.7 times per game (235th in the nation) and they are turning it over 10.7 times per contest. VMI has totaled 1,015 pts this season (78.1 per contest) and they pull in 37.3 rebounds per game. As an offensive unit, the Keydets are shooting 41.4% from the field, which is 333rd in the nation.

The VMI defense gives up 33.3% on shots from 3-point land (110 of 330) and opponents are connecting on 70.3% of their free throw attempts. They have conceded 17.2 dimes and 40.5 rebounds every game, ranking them 346th and 353rd in the country. The Keydets are ranked 254th in college in PPG given up with 76.2. They are able to force 12.9 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 43.5% from the field (189th in college hoops).

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Chattanooga

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