Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks vs North Carolina Central Eagles Prediction, 1/26/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks vs North Carolina Central Eagles

Date: Monday, January 26, 2026

Location: McDougald-McLendon Arena in Durham, NC

TV: ESPN+

The Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks (8-13) are hitting the road to McDougald-McLendon Arena on Monday where they will take on the North Carolina Central Eagles (7-12).

The Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks stepped onto the hardwood against Coppin State and went home with a win by a final score of 70-67 in their last contest. Maryland Eastern Shore finished with a 46.9% FG percentage (23 of 49) and made 6 of 17 shots from beyond the perimeter. At the free throw line, the Hawks made 18 of their 19 tries for a rate of 94.7%. With respect to getting rebounds, they earned 19 with 8 of them being offensive. They also dished out 14 dimes for this contest while forcing the other team into 20 turnovers and having 9 steals. In the matter of defense, Maryland Eastern Shore allowed the other team to go 41.7% from the field on 20 out of 48 shooting. Coppin State doled out 8 assists and had 5 steals in this matchup. On top of that, Coppin State collected 31 rebounds (15 offensive, 16 defensive), but didn't have a block. Coppin State finished the contest at 95.2% from the charity stripe by making 20 of their 21 tries. They made 7 of their 23 tries from 3-point land. When discussing personal fouls, the Hawks ended up walking away with 21 and Coppin State finished the game with 19 personal fouls.

Dorion Staples is a player who had an impact for the contest. He finished shooting 66.7% from the floor and also earned 3 assists. He saw the court for 37 mins and collected 4 rebounds. He recorded 20 points on 8 out of 12 shooting.

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Maryland Eastern Shore heads into this matchup with a win-loss mark of 8-13 on the season. They are averaging 64.6 pts per game (356th in the nation) while shooting 44.5% from the floor. The Hawks are hitting 29.6% from downtown (117 of 395) and 70.2% from the free throw line. As a team, Maryland Eastern Shore is pulling in 32.9 rebounds per game and has accounted for 295 dimes so far this season, which has them ranked 170th in D-1 in terms of passing. They are losing possession via turnover 15.2 times per contest and as a group they commit 18.1 fouls on a nightly basis.

Defensively, the Hawks are forcing 12.0 turnovers every game while drawing 16.4 personal fouls. They currently rank 205th in college in allowing assists to the opposition with 276 surrendered on the season. The Hawks are giving up a FG percentage of 43.1% (506 of 1,175) and they surrender 33.8 boards per game as a team. They give up 31.6% on shots from beyond the arc and they are 120th in the nation in opponents PPG (71.4).

When they last stepped on the court, the North Carolina Central Eagles walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 83-69 when they played Howard. When it comes to cleaning up the glass, North Carolina Central allowed Howard to pull down 37 in total (14 on the offensive glass). They went 26.1% from 3-point land by connecting on 6 out of 23 and walked away from this one shooting 11 of 15 from the charity stripe (73.3%). The Eagles permitted Howard to knock down 33 out of 66 attempts from the field which had them shooting 50.0% in the game. Overall, the Eagles ended up going 25 for 58 from the floor which had them sitting at 43.1%. When discussing 3-point attempts, North Carolina Central knocked down 10 of 26 attempts (38.5%). They were able to knock down 9 of the free throw tries for a rate of 60.0%. Howard had 16 fouls for this game which got the Eagles to the free throw line for a total of 15 tries. They turned it over 14 times, while getting 5 steals in the game. The Eagles collected 19 defensive rebounds and 10 offensive boards totaling 29 in this contest.

Tekao Carpenter ended up being a factor for the Eagles in this contest. He made 6 out of 13 for the matchup for a field goal rate of 46.2%, and had 4 rebounds. He had 21 points in his 35 mins on the hardwood and had 2 assists in this contest.

North Carolina Central has a record of 7-12 so far this year. As an offense, the Eagles are connecting on 43.5% from the field, which is 284th in the country. North Carolina Central has totaled 1,399 pts for the season (73.6 per game) and they pull in 33.0 boards per game. They are dishing out assists 15.4 times per contest (102nd in the country) and they cough up possession 12.5 times per game. The Eagles commit 18.6 fouls per contest and they hit 73.0% from the charity stripe.

The Eagles on defense are ranked 294th in college hoops in points per game surrendered with 78.1. They are forcing 14.9 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 46.1% from the floor (299th in college). The North Carolina Central defense gives up 35.0% on 3-pointers (167 of 477) and opponents are converting on 70.5% of their foul shots. They have conceded 15.5 assists and 37.8 rebounds every game, which ranks 310th and 332nd in college hoops.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Maryland Eastern Shore

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