Indiana State Sycamores vs Drake Bulldogs Prediction, 1/4/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Indiana State Sycamores vs Drake Bulldogs

Date: Sunday, January 4, 2026

Location: Knapp Center in Des Moines, IA

TV: ESPN+

The Indiana State Sycamores (8-6) are on their way to Knapp Center on Sunday where they will compete against the Drake Bulldogs (7-7).

The Indiana State Sycamores took the court against Belmont and took home the win by a score of 81-80 in their last game. Indiana State ended the contest with a 45.9% field goal percentage (28 of 61) and buried 12 of their 30 shots from downtown. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Sycamores knocked down 13 of 26 attempts for a rate of 50.0%. With respect to getting rebounds, they compiled a total of 28 with 6 of them being on the offensive end. They also doled out 24 assists in the game in addition to forcing the other team into 16 turnovers and having 8 steals. In the matter of defending, Indiana State allowed their opponent to shoot 43.5% from the floor on 27 out of 62 shooting. Belmont dished out 17 assists and had 5 steals for this game. In addition, Belmont totaled 33 rebounds (9 offensive, 24 defensive), but didn't have a block. Belmont shot 82.4% from the charity stripe by knocking down 14 of their 17 shots. They knocked down 12 out of their 28 attempts from distance. In regard to personal fouls, the Sycamores ended up finishing with 16 and Belmont accumulated 23 personal fouls.

Camp Wagner is one player who was a factor in this game. He finished with 17 points on 5 of 11 shooting. He played for 39 minutes played and also totaled 3 boards. He finished shooting 45.5% from the field and distributed 3 dimes.

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Indiana State will take the court with a mark of 8-6 on the season. They are turning it over 13.5 times per game and as a unit are committing 15.4 fouls per contest. As a team, Indiana State is grabbing 37.1 boards per contest and has 246 dimes this year, which is 38th in D-1 in terms of passing. The Sycamores are hitting 31.3% on 3-point shots (123 of 393) and 69.7% from the free throw line. They are averaging 76.7 pts per contest (202nd in D-1) while connecting on 45.4% from the field.

On the defensive end, the Sycamores are forcing 11.9 turnovers per game and they draw 16.4 fouls. They rank 108th in the country in giving up assists to their opponents with 165 surrendered for the year. The Sycamores defensively are giving up a field goal percentage of 42.7% (391 of 916) and they surrender 38.2 boards per game as a unit. They are giving up 30.7% on three-point shots and they rank 197th in college hoops in PPG allowed (73.7).

When they last played, the Drake Bulldogs took a defeat with a final score of 73-56 against Illinois State. When it comes to how they cleaned up the glass, Drake allowed Illinois State to pull down 35 in all (4 on the offensive side). They finished 56.5% from 3-point land by connecting on 13 of 23 and ended up shooting 8 out of 12 at the free throw line (66.7%). The Bulldogs permitted Illinois State to make 26 out of 41 tries from the floor which had them sitting at 63.4% for this contest. Overall, the Bulldogs finished 19 out of 56 from the field which gave them a rate of 33.9%. In terms of shots from 3-point land, Drake made 7 of 26 tries (26.9%). They were able to knock down 11 of them for a percentage of 61.1%. Illinois State earned 17 fouls for this game which took the Bulldogs to the charity stripe for a total of 18 shots. They turned the ball over 8 times, while getting 12 steals for the game. The Bulldogs were able to snag 11 defensive rebounds and 7 offensive rebounds for a total of 18 in this game.

Okku Federiko was important for the Bulldogs for the matchup. He tallied 11 points in his 25 mins on the court and had 2 dimes in this game. He made 4 out of 10 in this game for a field goal percentage of 40.0%, and accounted for 3 rebounds.

Drake has a record of 7-7 this season. The Bulldogs have committed 15.5 fouls every game and they shoot 74.3% from the free throw line. They are earning an assist 14.6 times per contest (173rd in the country) and they cough up possession 9.5 times per contest. Drake has scored 1,084 points on the campaign (77.4 per game) and they pull down 36.0 boards per contest. As an offense, the Bulldogs are connecting on 45.7% from the field, which is 173rd in the country.

The Drake defense surrenders 35.0% on shots from 3-point land (124 of 354) and opponents are knocking down 66.7% of their shots from the free throw line. They give up 12.9 dimes and 35.3 rebounds per game, which is ranked 158th and 227th in the nation. The Bulldogs on defense are ranked 98th in college in points given up per game with 69.4. They are forcing their opponents into 10.9 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 41.9% from the field (104th in the country).

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Indiana State

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