Merrimack Warriors vs Iona Gaels Prediction, 1/22/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Merrimack Warriors vs Iona Gaels

Date: Thursday, January 22, 2026

Location: Hynes Athletics Center in New Rochelle, NY

TV: ESPN+

The Merrimack Warriors (11-8) are traveling to Hynes Athletics Center on Thursday where they will play the Iona Gaels (12-7).

The Merrimack Warriors took the court against Marist and earned the victory with a final of 68-55 in their last game. Merrimack walked away from the contest having earned a 47.7% FG percentage (21 out of 44) and converted 4 of their 17 three-point shots. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Warriors converted 22 of their 27 attempts for a percentage of 81.5%. With regard to grabbing rebounds, they collected a total of 27 with 2 of them being of the offensive sort. They also doled out 7 assists in the matchup while forcing the other team into 13 turnovers and getting 7 steals. With respect to the defense, Merrimack allowed the other team to go 32.7% from the field on 17 out of 52 shooting. Marist earned 11 dimes and had 6 steals in the matchup. Furthermore, Marist grabbed 29 rebounds (10 offensive, 19 defensive), but finished the game with no rejections. Marist went 86.4% at the charity stripe by making 19 of their 22 tries. They made 2 of their 16 shots from three-point range. When it comes to fouls, the Warriors ended up walking away with 15 while Marist finished the game with 19 fouls.

Kevair Kennedy is a player who was a major contributor for the contest. He shot 46.2% from the floor and also distributed 1 assist. He saw the court for 35 minutes and pulled down 4 rebounds. He ended up scoring 20 points on 6 of 13 shooting.

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Merrimack heads into this matchup with a record of 11-8 so far this year. They are averaging 67.3 pts per game (339th in D-1) while shooting 40.6% from the floor. The Warriors are hitting 31.8% on shots from beyond the arc (154 of 485) and 76.5% from the charity stripe. As a unit, Merrimack is snagging 27.8 rebounds per contest and has 234 dimes this year, which is 280th in the nation in terms of passing the ball. They are turning it over 9.9 times per game and as a team they commit 17.6 fouls every game.

On the defensive end of the court, the Warriors are forcing 12.5 turnovers per contest while drawing 16.9 personal fouls. They rank 217th in Division 1 in allowing assists to the opposition with 253 relinquished for the season. The Warriors defensively are allowing an opponent shooting percentage of 44.4% (471 of 1,062) and they concede 39.9 rebounds per contest as a unit. They are surrendering 30.8% on shots from beyond the arc and they are 102nd in college in points per game from their opponents (70.8).

In their last game, the Iona Gaels took a loss by a final score of 77-63 against St. Peter's. The Gaels snagged 22 defensive rebounds and 6 offensive boards totaling 28 in this contest. They gave up possession 7 times, while earning 5 steals in this game. St. Peter's had 20 personal fouls for this contest which got the Gaels to the free throw line for a total of 22 tries. They were able to knock down 12 of those for a percentage of 54.5%. When talking about 3-point shots, Iona buried 11 of their 32 tries (34.4%). Overall, the Gaels shot 20 out of 56 from the field which gave them a percentage of 35.7%. The Gaels permitted St. Peter's to knock down 22 out of their 48 attempts from the field which left them shooting 45.8% for this game. They finished 40.0% from 3-point land by shooting 6 of 15 and finished the game at 27 out of 36 at the free throw line (75.0%). Concerning rebounding, Iona allowed St. Peter's to get 37 in total (5 offensive).

Denver Anglin ended up having an impact for the Gaels for the contest. He knocked down 4 of 11 for this contest for a field goal rate of 36.4%, and had 3 rebounds. He racked up 15 points in his 39 mins on the hardwood and had 1 assist in this matchup.

Iona has a mark of 12-7 this year. As an offense, the Gaels are shooting 44.7% from the field, which ranks them 226th in the nation. Iona has totaled 1,431 points for the year (75.3 per contest) and they pull in 35.5 rebounds per game. Their rate of earning assists is at 14.5 times per game (174th in the country) and they turn it over 12.1 times per contest. The Gaels are responsible for committing 15.3 fouls every game while shooting 70.0% from the charity stripe.

The Gaels on the defensive side of the court are 208th in Division 1 in points allowed per game with 74.4. They are forcing their opponents into 11.8 TO's every game and have let teams shoot 43.1% from the floor (151st in D-1). The Iona defense concedes 30.2% from downtown (144 of 477) and their opposition makes 70.2% of their shots from the charity stripe. They give up 15.7 assists and 38.6 rebounds per game, ranking them 313th and 340th in college hoops.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Iona

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