North Dakota Fighting Hawks vs Omaha Mavericks Prediction, 1/8/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: North Dakota Fighting Hawks vs Omaha Mavericks

Date: Thursday, January 8, 2026

Location: Baxter Arena in Omaha, NE

TV: ESPN+

The Omaha Mavericks (7-10) will try to beat the North Dakota Fighting Hawks (8-10) at Baxter Arena on Thursday.

The North Dakota Fighting Hawks faced off with South Dakota State and walked away with a win by a score of 90-87 in their last game. When discussing fouls, the Fighting Hawks ended up finishing with 19 and South Dakota State totaled 17 fouls. They also made 11 of 26 shots from 3-point range. South Dakota State finished the contest at 78.3% at the charity stripe by knocking down 18 of their 23 shots. Additionally, South Dakota State pulled down 28 boards (11 offensive, 17 defensive), but didn't notch a rejection. South Dakota State recorded 15 assists and had 6 steals for this game. Pertaining to defending, North Dakota allowed the other team to shoot 48.3% from the floor on 29 out of 60 shooting. They also distributed 16 dimes for the game as well as forcing the other team into 13 turnovers and getting 10 steals. With regard to hauling in rebounds, they earned a total of 37 with 16 of them being of the offensive variety. From the charity stripe, the Fighting Hawks knocked down 16 of their 18 attempts for a rate of 88.9%. North Dakota ended the game having earned a 46.3% field goal percentage (31 of 67) and knocked down 12 out of their 35 3-point attempts.

Greyson Uelmen is a player who was a factor for this contest. He ended up with 17 points on 4 of 10 shooting. He played for 29 mins and collected 4 rebounds. He finished the game shooting 40.0% from the field and earned 3 assists.

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North Dakota enters this game with a record of 8-10 for the year. They turn it over 11.3 times per contest and as a team they are committing 20.2 personal fouls per contest. As a unit, North Dakota is pulling down 34.8 boards per game and has accumulated 216 dimes so far this season, which is 190th in the country in terms of passing the rock. The Fighting Hawks are shooting 31.5% on shots beyond the perimeter (140 of 444) and 69.2% from the charity stripe. They average 75.3 pts per contest (227th in Division 1) while hitting 42.8% from the field.

On defense, the Fighting Hawks are forcing their opponents into 15.8 turnovers per game and they draw 18.9 fouls. They surrender 32.9% on shots from distance and they are ranked 225th in D-1 in points per game allowed (75.1). The Fighting Hawks defensively are giving up a FG percentage of 46.7% (460 of 985) and they surrender 36.5 rebounds per contest as a team. They are ranked 355th in the country in giving up assists to the opposition with 279 relinquished on the season.

For their last game, the Omaha Mavericks took a defeat with a final score of 73-66 when they faced UMKC. In relation to how they attacked the glass, Omaha permitted UMKC to collect 27 in total (5 offensive). They shot 38.9% from 3-point land by going 7 of 18 and walked away from this one shooting 18 out of 22 at the free throw line (81.8%). The Mavericks permitted UMKC to convert 24 out of their 56 tries from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 42.9% for the contest. When the game finished, the Mavericks shot 26 out of 54 from the floor which had them shooting 48.1%. With respect to shots from 3-point land, Omaha converted 7 of their 19 attempts (36.8%). They were able to knock down 7 of those for a clip of 63.6%. UMKC had 13 fouls for the matchup which got the Mavericks to the free throw line for a total of 11 tries. They turned it over 15 times, while recording 4 steals for this contest. The Mavericks were able to collect 27 defensive rebounds and 6 offensive boards for a total of 33 in this game.

Paul Djobet was important for the Mavericks for the game. He accumulated 16 points in his 32 mins on the court and had 4 dimes for this game. He knocked down 7 of 14 for the contest for a field goal percentage of 50.0%, and had 8 rebounds.

Omaha has a win-loss mark of 7-10 for the campaign. On the offensive side of the court, the Mavericks are connecting on 46.0% from the field, which is 151st in the nation. Omaha has accounted for 1,294 points so far this season (76.1 per contest) and they pull in 34.5 boards per game. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 13.9 times per contest (214th in college hoops) and they are giving up possession 11.7 times per game. The Mavericks have committed 15.9 fouls every game and they shoot 71.6% from the free throw line.

The Mavericks on defense are ranked 286th in college in PPG allowed with 77.6. They are able to force 10.4 turnovers on a nightly basis and allow teams to shoot 44.6% from the field (256th in college). The Omaha defense concedes 33.3% on shots from beyond the perimeter (162 of 486) and their opposition makes 76.2% of their shots from the free throw line. They surrender 15.9 dimes and 35.2 boards per game, which is ranked 319th and 216th in college.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take North Dakota

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