Chicago State Cougars vs Fairleigh Dickinson Knights Prediction, 1/8/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Chicago State Cougars vs Fairleigh Dickinson Knights

Date: Thursday, January 8, 2026

Location: Bogota Savings Bank Center in Hackensack, NJ

TV: ESPN+

Bogota Savings Bank Center is the location where the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights (4-11) will try to defeat the Chicago State Cougars (2-13) on Thursday.

The Chicago State Cougars stepped onto the hardwood against LIU and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 74-55 in their last game. Regarding fouls, the Cougars ended up finishing with 14 while LIU racked up 14 fouls. They also made 10 out of their 26 attempts from 3-point range. LIU went 66.7% when shooting free throws by making 8 of their 12 attempts. In addition, LIU grabbed 34 rebounds (8 offensive, 26 defensive), but wrapped up the game with no rejections. LIU doled out 20 dimes and had 6 steals for the matchup. With regard to defending, Chicago State let their opponent shoot 52.8% from the floor on 28 out of 53 shooting. They also doled out 11 assists in this contest in addition to forcing the opposition into 16 turnovers and having 12 steals. In relation to getting rebounds, they earned 28 with 11 of them being of the offensive sort. At the free throw line, the Cougars made 10 of their 16 attempts for a rate of 62.5%. Chicago State finished the contest with a 33.9% FG percentage (21 of 62) and knocked down 3 out of their 14 three-point attempts.

CJ Ray is a guy who was important in this contest. He left the arena with 10 points on 3 out of 12 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 28 mins played and snagged 4 rebounds. He walked away from this one shooting 25.0% from the field and also distributed 2 assists.

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Chicago State will play this game with a mark of 2-13 this year. They turn it over 12.2 times per game and as a team are committing 20.1 personal fouls on a nightly basis. As a unit, Chicago State is pulling down 33.1 boards per game and is sitting with 148 assists so far this season, which ranks 357th in the nation in terms of passing. The Cougars are connecting on 28.9% on 3-pointers (74 of 256) and 75.6% from the free throw line. They average 65.9 pts per contest (345th in the nation) while going 38.7% from the field.

When they are on defense, the Cougars are able to force 13.0 turnovers per contest while drawing 15.9 personal fouls. They are ranked 362nd in Division 1 in giving up assists to their opponents with 304 conceded this year. The Cougars defensively are giving up a field goal percentage of 48.3% (418 of 866) and they concede 37.7 boards per game as a group. They are giving up 35.9% on 3-point shots while they are 340th in the nation in PPG allowed (82.7).

When they last stepped on the court, the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights went home defeated by a final of 85-82 against Saint Francis. The Knights collected 22 defensive boards and 7 offensive rebounds for a total of 29 for this contest. They also turned it over 8 times, while getting 3 steals for this game. Saint Francis had 24 personal fouls for this game which took the Knights to the charity stripe for a total of 33 attempts. They were able to bury 26 of those for a rate of 78.8%. Regarding shots from distance, Fairleigh Dickinson converted 6 out of their 23 attempts (26.1%). When all was said and done, the Knights went 25 out of 54 from the floor which had them shooting 46.3%. The Knights permitted Saint Francis to bury 25 out of their 54 tries from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 46.3% in this matchup. They went 38.5% from distance by shooting 10 out of 26 and walked away from this one shooting 25 out of 30 from the charity stripe (83.3%). In the matter of rebounding, Fairleigh Dickinson permitted Saint Francis to snag 27 in total (6 on the offensive glass).

Joey Niesman ended up having an impact for the Knights in this matchup. He made 7 of 17 for the matchup for a field goal rate of 41.2%, and accumulated 8 rebounds. He totaled 23 points in his 37 mins on the hardwood and accounted for 5 assists in this contest.

Fairleigh Dickinson has a win-loss mark of 4-11 so far this season. As an offense, the Knights are connecting on 41.2% from the field, which has them ranked 335th in the nation. Fairleigh Dickinson has 1,050 pts for the campaign (70.0 per contest) and they average 37.1 rebounds per game. Their rate of earning assists is at 13.2 times per contest (265th in Division 1) and they cough up possession 12.9 times per contest. The Knights commit 18.1 personal fouls per game and they shoot 69.3% from the charity stripe.

The Knights on defense are ranked 196th in D-1 in PPG allowed with 73.9. They are forcing 12.0 turnovers on a nightly basis and have allowed teams to shoot 45.4% from the field (284th in Division 1). The Fairleigh Dickinson defense concedes 36.0% on 3-pointers (135 of 375) and their opponents are knocking down 68.6% of their shots from the free throw line. They give up 14.5 dimes and 33.9 rebounds per game, which ranks 260th and 145th in college hoops.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Chicago State

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