Mercyhurst Lakers vs Central Connecticut Blue Devils Prediction, 2/26/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Mercyhurst Lakers vs Central Connecticut Blue Devils

Date: Thursday, February 26, 2026

Location: Detrick Gymnasium in New Britain, CT

TV: ESPN+

The Mercyhurst Lakers (14-15) are traveling to Detrick Gymnasium on Thursday where they will compete against the Central Connecticut Blue Devils (16-11).

The Mercyhurst Lakers faced LIU and notched a win by a score of 91-83 in their last contest. With respect to personal fouls, the Lakers ended up with 17 while LIU recorded 21 personal fouls. They also buried 5 of their 16 attempts from distance. LIU finished the contest at 80.0% at the charity stripe by knocking down 16 of 20 attempts. Additionally, LIU collected 24 rebounds (6 offensive, 18 defensive), but didn't record a block for the team. LIU dished out 14 dimes and had 4 steals in this game. In the matter of defense, Mercyhurst allowed their opponent to shoot 57.4% from the floor on 31 of 54 shooting. They also doled out 19 assists for this game in addition to creating 13 turnovers and earning 6 steals. In the matter of rebounding, they collected 25 with 8 of them being of the offensive variety. At the free throw line, the Lakers made 17 of 21 shots for a percentage of 81.0%. Mercyhurst finished having earned a 54.0% FG percentage (34 out of 63) and converted 6 of 18 shots from beyond the arc.

Qadir Martin is one guy who played a role for the game. He finished shooting 62.5% from the field and also totaled 1 assist. He played for 34 minutes played and also pulled down 9 boards. He ended up walking away with 25 points on 10 of 16 shooting.

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Mercyhurst steps onto the hardwood with a win-loss record of 14-15 for the year. They are turning it over 9.7 times per game and as a squad they are committing 18.0 fouls per game. As a unit, Mercyhurst is pulling down 32.1 boards per game and has tallied 433 dimes for the season, which is 84th in Division 1 in terms of passing. The Lakers are shooting 32.5% on shots from distance (177 of 544) and 71.0% from the free throw line. They are averaging 69.3 points per outing (321st in college hoops) while connecting on 45.6% from the field.

When they are on defense, the Lakers are forcing their opponents into 13.1 turnovers per contest and they draw 15.0 personal fouls. They surrender 32.9% on shots from beyond the arc and they rank 32nd in college in opponents points per game (67.2). The Lakers defense is giving up and opponent field goal percentage of 44.0% (670 of 1,523) and they relinquish 34.3 rebounds per game as a team. They are currently ranked 116th in D-1 in giving up assists to the opposition with 353 surrendered this season.

For their last game, the Central Connecticut Blue Devils went home defeated by a final of 70-51 when they faced Chicago State. When talking about rebounding, Central Connecticut allowed Chicago State to get 32 in total (8 on the offensive side). They finished 28.6% from three-point range by shooting 8 out of 28 and walked away from this one shooting 10 out of 12 at the charity stripe (83.3%). The Blue Devils allowed Chicago State to convert 26 of their 62 attempts from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 41.9% in the game. When this game wrapped up, the Blue Devils ended up shooting 17 for 55 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 30.9%. In relation to shooting from 3-point land, Central Connecticut converted 5 of their 24 attempts (20.8%). They were able to knock down 12 of the free throw attempts for a rate of 80.0%. Chicago State committed 18 personal fouls for the game which got the Blue Devils to the charity stripe for a total of 15 shots. They also gave up possession of the ball 13 times, while earning 3 steals in this contest. The Blue Devils collected 20 defensive boards and 12 offensive boards for a total of 32 for the game.

Darin Smith Jr. was important for the Blue Devils in this game. He buried 6 out of 18 for the matchup for a rate of 33.3%, and totaled 6 rebounds. He earned 19 points in his 38 mins on the court and tallied 2 assists in this matchup.

Central Connecticut has a win-loss mark of 16-11 for the campaign. When it comes to offense, the Blue Devils are shooting 47.1% from the floor, which is 71st in the nation. Central Connecticut has scored 2,006 pts this year (74.3 per game) and they pull in 34.6 boards per game. They are earning an assist 14.1 times per game (168th in the nation) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 10.7 times per game. The Blue Devils are committing 13.5 fouls every game while shooting 77.3% from the charity stripe.

The Blue Devils are ranked 100th in college hoops in points per game surrendered with 70.9. They are able to force 9.5 TO's every game and have allowed teams to shoot 42.6% from the floor (90th in the country). The Central Connecticut defense surrenders 33.4% on 3-point attempts (222 of 665) and their opposition makes 75.8% of their foul shots. They surrender 14.5 assists and 33.3 rebounds per contest, which ranks them 272nd and 110th in the country.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Mercyhurst

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