Maine Black Bears vs Vermont Catamounts Prediction, 1/15/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Maine Black Bears vs Vermont Catamounts

Date: Thursday, January 15, 2026

Location: Patrick Gymnasium in Burlington, VT

TV: ESPN+

The Vermont Catamounts (10-7) will compete against the Maine Black Bears (3-15) at Patrick Gymnasium on Thursday.

The Maine Black Bears played NJIT and walked away with a win by a score of 74-70 in their last contest. Maine finished with a 53.3% field goal percentage (24 out of 45) and converted 9 out of their 20 shots from beyond the perimeter. From the charity stripe, the Black Bears made 17 of their 24 shots for a rate of 70.8%. In regard to pulling down boards, they collected a total of 29 with 4 of them being offensive. They also doled out 13 assists in this game in addition to forcing the opposition into 6 turnovers and having 5 steals. In terms of the defense, Maine allowed their opponent to shoot 39.3% from the field on 22 out of 56 shooting. NJIT doled out 10 assists and had 7 steals for this contest. Moreover, NJIT had 30 boards (9 offensive, 21 defensive), but didn't have a block. NJIT finished shooting 84.6% from the charity stripe by converting 22 of their 26 shots. They also knocked down 4 out of their 14 tries from downtown. Regarding fouls, the Black Bears ended up with 17 and NJIT racked up 19 fouls.

TJ Biel is a guy who was a factor for this game. He scored 21 points on 7 out of 13 shooting. He was on the court for 34 minutes and snagged 2 rebounds. He finished the game at 53.8% from the floor and also totaled 1 assist.

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Maine will play this contest with a record of 3-15 on the campaign. They are losing possession via turnover 14.4 times per contest and as a unit are committing 17.1 personal fouls per contest. As a unit, Maine is pulling down 29.8 rebounds per contest and has totaled 204 dimes for the campaign, which is 323rd in the country in terms of passing. The Black Bears are shooting 31.4% on three-point shots (104 of 331) and 61.2% from the charity stripe. They have an average of 61.6 pts per contest (362nd in D-1) while hitting 44.4% from the floor.

On the defensive end, the Black Bears are forcing 13.1 turnovers per game and they draw 16.3 personal fouls. They are relinquishing 30.9% on 3-point shots while they are 82nd in the country in PPG allowed (69.4). The Black Bears are giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 43.6% (444 of 1,018) and they surrender 37.1 rebounds per contest as a group. They are 219th in D-1 in giving up assists to their opponents with 232 conceded for the season.

When they last played, the Vermont Catamounts took home the win by a final score of 60-59 when they faced Binghamton. The Catamounts snagged 29 defensive boards and 7 offensive boards totaling 36 for the matchup. They turned the ball over 8 times, while getting 2 steals for the matchup. Binghamton committed 19 fouls in this contest which got the Catamounts to the free throw line for a total of 24 attempts. They were able to bury 13 of the free throw tries for a percentage of 54.2%. In relation to shots from downtown, Vermont made 5 of 16 attempts (31.3%). In all, the Catamounts shot 21 for 48 from the floor which gave them a rate of 43.8%. The Catamounts allowed Binghamton to bury 22 out of 55 attempts from the field which had them shooting 40.0% in this matchup. They finished 30.0% from behind the 3-point line by going 6 of 20 and ended up going 9 out of 14 from the free throw line (64.3%). When talking about attacking the glass, Vermont allowed Binghamton to get 32 in all (5 offensive).

Gus Yalden ended up being a factor for the Catamounts for the game. He totaled 15 points in his 19 mins on the court and earned 1 assist for the game. He converted 5 out of 10 in this contest giving him a rate of 50.0%, and had 5 rebounds.

Vermont has a win-loss record of 10-7 for the year. The Catamounts commit 17.4 fouls every game while shooting 73.9% from the free throw line. They are earning an assist 13.3 times per game (259th in the country) and they lose possession via turnover 9.8 times per game. Vermont has scored 1,302 points this season (76.6 per game) and they pull in 35.0 rebounds per contest. On the offensive side of the ball, the Catamounts are hitting on 47.4% from the floor, which ranks them 88th in the nation.

The Catamounts are ranked 159th in D-1 in points per game surrendered with 72.6. They are able to force 9.5 turnovers on a nightly basis and allow teams to shoot 44.6% from the field (245th in college hoops). The Vermont defense gives up 36.2% on 3-point attempts (144 of 398) and opponents are knocking down 73.7% of their free throw shots. They surrender 12.7 assists and 30.7 rebounds on a nightly basis, which has them ranked 122nd and 24th in the nation.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Maine

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