New Hampshire Wildcats vs NJIT Highlanders Prediction, 1/8/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: New Hampshire Wildcats vs NJIT Highlanders

Date: Thursday, January 8, 2026

Location: Joel & Diane Bloom Wellness and Events Center in Newark, NJ

TV: ESPN+

The NJIT Highlanders (6-10) are hosting the New Hampshire Wildcats (4-10) at Joel & Diane Bloom Wellness and Events Center on Thursday.

The New Hampshire Wildcats took the court against Vermont and took a loss by a final of 80-61 in their last game. When it comes to personal fouls, the Wildcats left the arena with 14 while Vermont racked up 16 personal fouls. They also knocked down 8 out of their 21 tries from three-point range. Vermont ended up shooting 88.9% when shooting free throws by burying 8 of 9 shots. In addition, Vermont totaled 30 rebounds (6 offensive, 24 defensive), but wrapped up the game with no rejections. Vermont dished out 13 dimes and had 7 steals for this game. When talking about the defense, New Hampshire allowed the other team to go 53.3% from the floor on 32 of 60 shooting. They also distributed 11 dimes in this contest while creating 8 turnovers and having 5 steals. In terms of getting rebounds, they collected 24 with 5 of them being on the offensive end. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Wildcats buried 8 of 10 attempts for a rate of 80.0%. New Hampshire wrapped up the contest with a 42.3% FG percentage (22 out of 52) and made 9 out of their 22 shots from distance.

KiJan Robinson is a guy who was a contributor for this contest. He scored 22 points on 6 out of 12 shooting. He saw the court for 29 minutes and snagged 3 boards. He walked away from this one shooting 50.0% from the floor and totaled 2 dimes.

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New Hampshire will enter this matchup with a win-loss mark of 4-10 this season. They are averaging 68.4 points per game (333rd in the country) while hitting 40.5% from the field. The Wildcats are hitting 31.0% on 3-pointers (112 of 361) and 69.4% from the charity stripe. As a team, New Hampshire is pulling in 36.1 boards per game and has 148 assists on the season, which is 358th in the nation in terms of passing the rock. They cough up possession 11.6 times per game and as a squad are committing 19.0 fouls every game.

On defense, the Wildcats are able to force 11.9 turnovers per contest and they draw 15.6 personal fouls. They currently rank 81st in college hoops in giving up assists with 180 surrendered so far this season. The Wildcats defensively are giving up and opponent field goal percentage of 44.2% (358 of 810) and they relinquish 38.7 rebounds per game as a team. They are surrendering 32.8% on shots from beyond the perimeter and they are 189th in D-1 in points per game allowed (73.7).

In their last game, the NJIT Highlanders walked away with a victory by a final of 73-65 against Binghamton. The Highlanders pulled down 21 defensive boards and 7 offensive boards totaling 28 for the game. They also turned it over 10 times, while recording 7 steals for this game. Binghamton had 18 personal fouls in the matchup which took the Highlanders to the free throw line for a total of 22 tries. They were able to knock down 17 of those for a percentage of 77.3%. When talking about three-point attempts, NJIT buried 6 out of their 16 tries (37.5%). At the conclusion of this game, the Highlanders finished shooting 25 out of 54 from the floor which had them shooting 46.3%. The Highlanders allowed Binghamton to bury 19 out of 39 attempts from the field which had them sitting at 48.7% in this game. They shot 40.0% from three-point range by going 6 out of 15 and ended up going 21 out of 26 from the free throw line (80.8%). Concerning cleaning up the glass, NJIT allowed Binghamton to pull down 22 in total (3 on the offensive side).

Sebastian Robinson pitched in for the Highlanders for the game. He earned 22 points in his 30 mins on the court and had 3 dimes for the contest. He made 7 out of 12 for the game giving him a field goal percentage of 58.3%, and earned 3 rebounds.

NJIT has a win-loss record of 6-10 for the year. The Highlanders commit 18.3 fouls per game and they connect on 70.1% from the free throw line. They are assisting teammates 10.8 times per contest (352nd in D-1) and they turn it over 14.0 times per game. NJIT has tallied 1,038 pts for the year (64.9 per contest) and they average 34.6 rebounds per contest. As an offensive team, the Highlanders are hitting on 38.0% from the field, which is ranked 364th in college.

The Highlanders defensively are ranked 276th in Division 1 in points given up per game with 77.3. They are forcing 11.3 turnovers per game and have allowed teams to shoot 44.0% from the floor (214th in college). The NJIT defense surrenders 34.0% on shots from behind the 3-point line (137 of 403) and their opponents are connecting on 68.7% of their shots from the free throw line. They give up 14.9 dimes and 40.3 boards on a nightly basis, which has them ranked 283rd and 354th in Division 1.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take NJIT

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