East Tennessee State Buccaneers vs Samford Bulldogs Prediction, 1/17/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: East Tennessee State Buccaneers vs Samford Bulldogs

Date: Saturday, January 17, 2026

Location: Pete Hanna Center in Homewood, AL

TV: CBSSN

Pete Hanna Center is where the Samford Bulldogs (9-9) will try to beat the East Tennessee State Buccaneers (12-6) on Saturday.

The East Tennessee State Buccaneers took the court against Western Carolina and went home with a loss by a final score of 72-68 in their last contest. Concerning personal fouls, the Buccaneers ended up finishing with 10 while Western Carolina totaled 17 personal fouls. They converted 9 out of their 26 attempts from distance. Western Carolina finished the game at 75.0% from the charity stripe by converting 9 of 12 shots. Moreover, Western Carolina snagged 35 rebounds (9 offensive, 26 defensive), but wasn't able to record a rejection. Western Carolina distributed 17 dimes and had 3 steals for this game. With regard to the defense, East Tennessee State let their opponent shoot 48.2% from the field on 27 out of 56 shooting. They also doled out 12 assists in this matchup while forcing the opposition into 12 turnovers and earning 10 steals. In relation to grabbing rebounds, they compiled 26 with 9 of them being of the offensive variety. At the charity stripe, the Buccaneers converted 17 of their 23 attempts for a percentage of 73.9%. East Tennessee State ended the contest with a 38.6% FG percentage (22 out of 57) and converted 7 out of their 23 three-point attempts.

Blake Barkley is a guy who was a major contributor for this game. He ended up shooting 78.6% from the field but finished the game without a dime. He played for 29 minutes played and also snagged 5 boards. He left the arena with 24 points on 11 of 14 shooting.

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East Tennessee State will enter this matchup with a win-loss mark of 12-6 so far this season. They are losing possession via turnover 10.8 times per contest and as a group are committing 16.4 fouls on a nightly basis. As a unit, East Tennessee State is pulling in 34.4 rebounds per game and has earned 267 dimes for the season, which ranks 125th in college in terms of passing. The Buccaneers are hitting 33.5% on shots from 3-point land (138 of 412) and 74.2% from the free throw line. They average 78.2 pts per game (156th in D-1) while hitting 48.8% from the field.

When they are on defense, the Buccaneers are forcing their opponents into 14.4 turnovers every game while drawing 14.3 fouls. They are 140th in college hoops in giving up assists to their opponents with 221 conceded so far this season. The Buccaneers are allowing an opponent shooting percentage of 40.5% (409 of 1,010) and they concede 33.0 rebounds per game as a squad. They concede 30.5% from beyond the arc and they are 29th in college in opponents points per game (66.5).

The last time they took the court, the Samford Bulldogs went home defeated by a final of 77-73 when they faced Furman. Concerning how they attacked the glass, Samford permitted Furman to snag 40 overall (13 on the offensive glass). They finished 25.8% from three-point range by hitting 8 of 31 and finished the game at 11 of 16 at the charity stripe (68.8%). The Bulldogs permitted Furman to bury 29 of their 67 tries from the floor which left them shooting 43.3% for the contest. When the final whistle blew, the Bulldogs went 25 out of 57 from the floor which had them shooting 43.9%. In relation to shooting from distance, Samford made 5 out of their 20 attempts (25.0%). They were able to bury 18 of the free throw attempts for a percentage of 78.3%. Furman committed 19 fouls for the matchup which got the Bulldogs to the free throw line for a total of 23 attempts. They also gave up possession of the ball 9 times, while getting 5 steals in this game. The Bulldogs collected 24 defensive boards and 5 offensive rebounds totaling 29 for the matchup.

Dylan Faulkner ended up being a major contributor for the Bulldogs in this contest. He knocked down 8 out of 10 for the game giving him a field goal percentage of 80.0%, and had 5 rebounds. He totaled 24 points in his 27 mins on the court and had 2 dimes in this game.

Samford has a mark of 9-9 this year. As an offense, the Bulldogs are shooting 43.4% from the floor, which has them ranked 277th in the nation. Samford has scored 1,398 points for the season (77.7 per contest) and they pull in 37.5 boards per contest. Their rate of assisting teammates is at 14.9 times per game (146th in the nation) and they are losing possession via turnover 9.2 times per contest. The Bulldogs are committing 15.8 fouls every game and they connect on 66.7% from the free throw line.

The Samford defense gives up 36.3% on 3-point attempts (145 of 400) and their opposition knocks down 75.3% of their shots from the free throw line. They concede 13.1 dimes and 38.6 rebounds per contest, which is ranked 159th and 343rd in those categories. The Bulldogs are ranked 258th in college hoops in PPG surrendered with 76.4. They are able to force 9.7 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 43.5% from the floor (171st in D-1).

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take East Tennessee State

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