Murray State Racers vs Drake Bulldogs Prediction, 1/21/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Murray State Racers vs Drake Bulldogs

Date: Wednesday, January 21, 2026

Location: Knapp Center in Des Moines, IA

TV: ESPN+

The Drake Bulldogs (9-10) will go up against the Murray State Racers (16-3) at Knapp Center on Wednesday.

The Murray State Racers stepped onto the hardwood against Indiana State and earned the victory with a final of 85-81 in their last contest. In regard to fouls, the Racers finished with 17 and Indiana State accumulated 20 fouls. They made 8 of their 16 attempts from long range. Indiana State ended up going 60.0% from the free throw line by making 9 of their 15 tries. Moreover, Indiana State pulled down 33 rebounds (11 offensive, 22 defensive), but wasn't able to record a rejection. Indiana State recorded 11 assists and had 8 steals in this contest. Regarding the defense, Murray State allowed their opponent to shoot 48.5% from the floor on 32 out of 66 shooting. They also distributed 11 assists in this game in addition to forcing 10 turnovers and earning 5 steals. With regard to rebounding, they collected 37 with 12 of them being on the offensive end. At the free throw line, the Racers made 16 of 23 tries for a percentage of 69.6%. Murray State ended having earned a 46.8% FG percentage (29 of 62) and made 11 of their 29 3-point shots.

Javon Jackson is one player who played a role in this matchup. He accumulated 21 points on 6 out of 13 shooting. He played 28 minutes and also collected 2 rebounds. He finished shooting 46.2% from the floor and also totaled 3 dimes.

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Murray State heads into this matchup with a win-loss mark of 16-3 for the season. They are turning it over 12.1 times per contest and as a squad they commit 18.5 fouls per contest. As a unit, Murray State is snagging 38.4 boards per contest and has earned 294 assists on the season, which ranks 80th in college in terms of passing. The Racers are hitting 37.3% on three-point shots (200 of 536) and 76.0% from the charity stripe. They average 87.8 pts per contest (21st in college) while connecting on 47.7% from the floor.

When they are on defense, the Racers are able to force 12.2 turnovers per game and they draw 20.5 fouls. They relinquish 33.6% on shots from beyond the perimeter and they rank 280th in D-1 in PPG from their opponents (77.3). The Racers defensively are allowing an opponent shooting percentage of 44.8% (547 of 1,222) and they surrender 34.9 rebounds per contest as a team. They are ranked 84th in the country in giving up assists to the opposition with 221 relinquished for the year.

In their last game, the Drake Bulldogs took a loss by a final score of 74-67 when they played UIC. With respect to rebounding, Drake permitted UIC to snag 36 overall (10 offensive). They finished shooting 40.0% from three-point range by connecting on 10 out of 25 and ended up going 24 out of 38 from the charity stripe (63.2%). The Bulldogs allowed UIC to knock down 20 of their 51 tries from the floor which had them at 39.2% in this game. At the conclusion of this game, the Bulldogs ended up shooting 24 out of 59 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 40.7%. In terms of shots from beyond the perimeter, Drake buried 9 out of 32 tries (28.1%). They were able to make 10 of the free throws for a rate of 55.6%. UIC earned 17 fouls in this matchup which took the Bulldogs to the charity stripe for a total of 18 attempts. They coughed up the ball 8 times, while getting 4 steals in this game. The Bulldogs were able to snag 21 defensive boards and 5 offensive rebounds for a total of 26 in this matchup.

Jalen Quinn ended up having an impact for the Bulldogs in this matchup. He made 9 of 17 for this contest for a field goal rate of 52.9%, and had 2 rebounds. He earned 28 points in his 35 mins of playing time and accounted for 3 dimes for the matchup.

Drake has a win-loss mark of 9-10 for the season. The Bulldogs are committing 16.9 personal fouls every game and they connect on 71.0% from the free throw line. Their rate of earning assists is at 14.4 times per game (177th in the country) and they are losing possession via turnover 10.4 times per game. Drake has scored 1,443 pts this season (75.9 per contest) and they grab 35.7 rebounds per contest. When it comes to executing on offense, the Bulldogs are shooting 44.9% from the floor, which is 213th in the country.

The Drake defense gives up 34.1% on 3-point attempts (170 of 498) and opponents are making 67.9% of their free throw attempts. They have surrendered 13.4 assists and 36.7 boards every game, which ranks 186th and 291st in college. The Bulldogs on defense are ranked 124th in college hoops in points per game surrendered with 71.7. They are forcing 10.8 TO's per game and have let teams shoot 41.8% from the field (80th in college hoops).

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Murray State

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