Eastern Kentucky Colonels vs Central Arkansas Bears Prediction, 1/31/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Eastern Kentucky Colonels vs Central Arkansas Bears

Date: Saturday, January 31, 2026

Location: Farris Center in Conway, AR

TV: ESPN+

The Central Arkansas Bears (11-10) will go up against the Eastern Kentucky Colonels (7-15) at Farris Center on Saturday.

The Eastern Kentucky Colonels faced off with Austin Peay and ended up losing by a score of 90-82 in their last contest. Eastern Kentucky ended the contest with a 34.7% FG percentage (25 out of 72) and knocked down 8 out of their 30 shots from beyond the arc. At the free throw line, the Colonels knocked down 24 of 27 shots for a percentage of 88.9%. Regarding rebounding, they earned a total of 34 with 18 of them being offensive. They also doled out 12 assists for this game while forcing 16 turnovers and having 10 steals. In the matter of defending, Eastern Kentucky let their opponent shoot 53.3% from the floor on 24 of 45 shooting. Austin Peay recorded 17 dimes and had 4 steals in the game. Additionally, Austin Peay snagged 30 rebounds (5 offensive, 25 defensive), but didn't record a block for the team. Austin Peay finished 92.1% when shooting free throws by converting 35 of 38 tries. They knocked down 7 of 15 attempts from 3-point range. In the matter of fouls, the Colonels ended up finishing with 22 and Austin Peay finished the game with 22 fouls.

Tyler Jackson is one player who was a factor in the matchup. He shot 50.0% from the floor and distributed 1 assist. He was on the hardwood for 22 mins played and grabbed 1 rebound. He accounted for 19 points on 6 out of 12 shooting.

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Eastern Kentucky comes into this contest with a win-loss record of 7-15 for the season. They turn it over 12.0 times per game and as a team are committing 18.4 fouls every game. As a team, Eastern Kentucky is grabbing 36.5 boards per contest and is sitting with 312 assists so far this season, which is 134th in D-1 in terms of passing. The Colonels are hitting 35.1% from downtown (248 of 706) and 72.2% from the charity stripe. They have an average of 80.2 points per game (105th in the nation) while going 43.4% from the floor.

Defensively, the Colonels are forcing 12.2 turnovers per contest and they draw 17.0 fouls. They rank 296th in Division 1 in giving up assists to their opponents with 318 surrendered this year. The Colonels defense is giving up and opponent field goal percentage of 47.8% (617 of 1,291) and they surrender 35.6 rebounds per contest as a unit. They relinquish 34.6% on shots from beyond the perimeter and they rank 328th in D-1 in PPG allowed (80.4).

In their last game, the Central Arkansas Bears took home the win by a final score of 100-90 against Queens. The Bears were able to pull down 23 defensive rebounds and 6 offensive boards for a total of 29 for this game. They also turned it over 9 times, while getting 9 steals for the matchup. Queens committed 27 fouls in this game which got the Bears to the charity stripe for a total of 34 attempts. They were able to knock down 28 of the free throws for a rate of 82.4%. When it comes to shots from downtown, Central Arkansas made 12 of 27 attempts (44.4%). When the final whistle blew, the Bears finished shooting 30 for 55 from the field which gave them a percentage of 54.5%. The Bears permitted Queens to bury 29 out of their 58 attempts from the field which had them shooting 50.0% for this contest. They wrapped up this game 44.7% from 3-point land by going 17 of 38 and ended up shooting 15 of 21 at the free throw line (71.4%). When discussing attacking the glass, Central Arkansas allowed Queens to pull down 24 overall (4 offensive).

Camren Hunter ended up having an impact for the Bears for the game. He racked up 31 points in his 31 minutes on the court and totaled 1 assist in the game. He buried 12 out of 18 in this matchup for a field goal percentage of 66.7%, but didn't pull down a rebound.

Central Arkansas has a record of 11-10 this year. The Bears have committed 16.1 personal fouls every game while shooting 69.7% from the free throw line. They are assisting teammates 16.5 times per contest (57th in the country) and they are turning it over 11.5 times per contest. Central Arkansas has accounted for 1,669 pts so far this season (79.5 per contest) and they pull down 37.0 rebounds per contest. As an offensive unit, the Bears are hitting on 45.0% from the floor, which is 202nd in college.

The Bears on the defensive side of the court are 209th in the country in PPG given up with 74.6. They have forced 13.6 turnovers on a nightly basis and have allowed teams to shoot 44.0% from the field (193rd in college). The Central Arkansas defense allows 32.8% on shots from behind the 3-point line (222 of 677) and opponents are converting on 72.9% of their foul shots. They have conceded 15.6 assists and 35.1 total rebounds per game, which has them ranked 317th and 216th in those categories.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Eastern Kentucky

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