Lafayette Leopards vs American Eagles Prediction, 1/31/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Lafayette Leopards vs American Eagles

Date: Saturday, January 31, 2026

Location: Bender Arena in Washington, DC

TV: ESPN+

Bender Arena is the site where the American Eagles (13-9) will try to beat the Lafayette Leopards (6-16) on Saturday.

The Lafayette Leopards played Bucknell and went home with a win by a final score of 81-79 in their last contest. Concerning personal fouls, the Leopards walked away with 25 and Bucknell racked up 25 personal fouls. They made 7 of their 19 shots from distance. Bucknell ended up going 75.0% from the free throw line by knocking down 24 of their 32 attempts. Furthermore, Bucknell grabbed 27 boards (7 offensive, 20 defensive), but didn't record a block for the team. Bucknell dished out 16 dimes and had 4 steals for the matchup. With respect to the defense, Lafayette allowed the other team to shoot 46.2% from the floor on 24 out of 52 shooting. They also doled out 17 dimes for the contest in addition to forcing the other team into 8 turnovers and getting 5 steals. With regard to pulling down rebounds, they compiled 31 with 11 of them being of the offensive sort. At the charity stripe, the Leopards buried 23 of 31 tries for a percentage of 74.2%. Lafayette finished with a 48.1% FG percentage (25 of 52) and made 8 of their 24 three-point shots.

Caleb Williams is a guy who was a major contributor in the matchup. He finished the contest at 47.1% from the field and recorded 4 dimes. He played 37 minutes and pulled down 3 boards. He ended up walking away with 28 points on 8 out of 17 shooting.

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Lafayette heads into this matchup with a record of 6-16 for the campaign. They turn it over 10.7 times per game and as a squad they are committing 17.4 personal fouls on a nightly basis. As a unit, Lafayette is pulling in 33.5 boards per game and has 295 assists for the season, which is 192nd in the country in terms of passing. The Leopards are shooting 34.2% on 3-pointers (175 of 511) and 69.3% from the charity stripe. They have an average of 70.1 pts per contest (317th in the nation) while shooting 42.1% from the floor.

On defense, the Leopards are able to force 11.2 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 17.0 fouls. They concede 36.9% on 3-point shots and they are ranked 227th in Division 1 in PPG allowed (75.4). The Leopards defense is allowing a field goal percentage of 46.0% (587 of 1,277) and they concede 36.8 boards per game as a team. They rank 340th in college hoops in allowing assists to their opponents with 347 surrendered so far this year.

The last time they took the court, the American Eagles went home defeated by a final of 77-68 when they faced Loyola. When discussing how they attacked the glass, American permitted Loyola to get 36 in all (8 on the offensive side). They finished 33.3% from behind the 3-point line by going 7 out of 21 and finished the contest at 24 of 29 at the free throw line (82.8%). The Eagles permitted Loyola to make 23 of 57 attempts from the field which had them at 40.4% in the matchup. When all was said and done, the Eagles went 23 out of 57 from the floor which gave them a rate of 40.4%. When talking about shots from downtown, American knocked down 10 out of 26 tries (38.5%). They were able to knock down 12 of those for a percentage of 75.0%. Loyola earned 14 personal fouls for the contest which took the Eagles to the free throw line for a total of 16 shots. They also gave up possession of the ball 11 times, while earning 7 steals for this contest. The Eagles collected 24 defensive rebounds and 1 offensive rebounds for a total of 25 in the matchup.

Madden Collins ended up having an impact for the Eagles for the contest. He buried 8 of 10 for this game for a field goal rate of 80.0%, but couldn't coral a rebound. He accumulated 22 points in his 29 mins on the court and totaled 3 dimes for the game.

American has a mark of 13-9 this season. The Eagles are responsible for committing 18.6 fouls every game and they shoot 76.1% from the charity stripe. They are earning an assist 14.0 times per game (198th in college) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 11.4 times per game. American has totaled 1,672 points on the year (76.0 per contest) and they pull down 32.3 boards per game. On the offensive side of the ball, the Eagles are shooting 45.6% from the floor, which is 160th in the nation.

The American defense allows 32.6% on three-point shots (142 of 436) and their opposition knocks down 73.0% of their foul shots. They give up 12.2 assists and 34.7 total rebounds per game, which has them ranked 84th and 196th in the country. The Eagles are ranked 133rd in college in PPG surrendered with 71.9. They are forcing their opponents into 13.5 turnovers per game and have allowed teams to shoot 45.1% from the field (255th in D-1).

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Lafayette

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