Mercyhurst Lakers vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish Prediction, 11/5/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Mercyhurst Lakers vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Date: Thursday, November 5, 2026

Location: Purcell Pavilion in South Bend, IN

TV: ESPN+

Purcell Pavilion is where the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (13-18 last year) will meet the Mercyhurst Lakers (17-17 last season) on Thursday.

The Mercyhurst Lakers played Marquette and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 78-43 in their last game. In the matter of personal fouls, the Lakers ended up with 16 while Marquette finished the game with 10 personal fouls. They also converted 4 of 21 shots from beyond the arc. Marquette went 61.5% at the free throw line by knocking down 16 of their 26 shots. Additionally, Marquette collected 45 boards (17 offensive, 28 defensive), but finished the game with no rejections. Marquette dished out 23 assists and had 9 steals in this game. In regard to defense, Mercyhurst allowed 48.3% from the field on 29 out of 60 shooting. They also recorded 8 assists for this game in addition to forcing the other team into 11 turnovers and having 9 steals. In terms of grabbing rebounds, they collected 20 with 9 of them being on the offensive end. At the charity stripe, the Lakers made 5 of 7 shots for a percentage of 71.4%. Mercyhurst ended the contest having earned a 29.3% FG percentage (17 of 58) and made 4 of 27 3-point attempts.

Jake Lemelman is one player who was a factor in the game. He finished the contest at 40.0% from the floor and earned 2 dimes. He played for 31 minutes played and pulled down 2 rebounds. He left the arena with 16 points on 6 out of 15 shooting.

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Mercyhurst enters this game after finishing with a win-loss mark of 17-17 last season. They turned it over 9.5 times per contest and as a unit committed 18.2 fouls every game. As a group, Mercyhurst grabbed 32.6 rebounds per game and sat with 498 assists last year, which ranked 113th in college hoops in terms of passing. The Lakers shot 32.7% from downtown (204 of 624) and 72.5% from the charity stripe. They had an average of 69.4 points per contest (323rd in the country) while connecting on 45.3% from the field.

When they were on the defensive end, the Lakers were able to force their opponents into 12.7 turnovers per game while drawing 15.2 personal fouls. They relinquished 32.2% on shots from beyond the perimeter and they were 31st in D-1 in points per game allowed (67.4). The Lakers defense gave up an opponent shooting percentage of 44.0% (790 of 1,794) and they conceded 34.5 boards per game as a unit. They were ranked 93rd in college in giving up assists to their opponents with 408 conceded over the course of last year.

In their last game, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish went home victorious with a score of 74-72 against Villanova. When talking about how they attacked the glass, Notre Dame allowed Villanova to collect 33 overall (7 on the offensive glass). They shot 35.5% from beyond the arc by connecting on 11 out of 31 and finished the contest at 13 out of 18 at the charity stripe (72.2%). The Fighting Irish permitted Villanova to convert 24 out of 52 tries from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 46.2% for the contest. When all was said and done, the Fighting Irish finished the game shooting 23 out of 65 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 35.4%. With respect to shots from 3-point land, Notre Dame buried 9 of their 24 attempts (37.5%). They were able to convert 19 of those for a rate of 76.0%. Villanova committed 17 personal fouls for this game which took the Fighting Irish to the charity stripe for a total of 25 attempts. They also gave up possession 10 times, while getting 14 steals for the matchup. The Fighting Irish collected 18 defensive rebounds and 16 offensive rebounds totaling 34 for this contest.

Braeden Smith was important for the Fighting Irish in the matchup. He earned 16 points in his 31 minutes on the court and had 3 assists in the matchup. He buried 2 of 9 for this game giving him a rate of 22.2%, and accounted for 4 rebounds.

Notre Dame had a win-loss mark of 13-18 last season. The Fighting Irish were responsible for committing 17.9 fouls per game and they went 69.7% from the charity stripe. Their rate of dishing out assists was at 12.3 times per contest (295th in the nation) and they coughed up possession 11.5 times per game. Notre Dame accumulated 2,308 pts over the course of last season (74.5 per game) and they snagged 36.6 rebounds per game. As an offense, the Fighting Irish shot 44.5% from the field, which ranked 224th in college.

The Fighting Irish on the defensive end were ranked 223rd in college hoops in PPG given up with 75.3. They forced 9.5 turnovers per game and allowed teams to shoot 43.9% from the field (158th in Division 1). The Notre Dame defense surrendered 33.2% on 3-point attempts (281 of 846) and their opponents knocked down 75.2% of their free throw attempts. They allowed 10.7 assists and 33.6 rebounds every game, which ranked them 75th and 126th in D-1.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Mercyhurst

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