Saint Francis Red Flash vs Chicago State Cougars Prediction, 1/29/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Saint Francis Red Flash vs Chicago State Cougars

Date: Thursday, January 29, 2026

Location: Jones Convocation Center in Chicago, IL

TV: ESPN+

The Chicago State Cougars (2-19) will try to beat the Saint Francis Red Flash (6-14) at Jones Convocation Center on Thursday.

The Saint Francis Red Flash faced off with Chicago State and notched a win by a score of 81-60 in their last game. When it comes to fouls, the Red Flash ended up finishing with 13 and Chicago State finished the game with 14 fouls. They also converted 7 out of their 20 tries from distance. Chicago State walked away from this one shooting 45.5% at the free throw line by knocking down 5 of their 11 tries. On top of that, Chicago State totaled 29 boards (14 offensive, 15 defensive), but didn't have a block. Chicago State earned 7 assists and had 5 steals in the matchup. With respect to defense, Saint Francis let their opponent shoot 35.8% from the field on 24 of 67 shooting. They also recorded 23 dimes in this game in addition to creating 11 turnovers and having 6 steals. In the matter of pulling down rebounds, they compiled 32 with 5 of them being of the offensive variety. From the free throw line, the Red Flash buried 14 of their 16 attempts for a rate of 87.5%. Saint Francis ended having earned a 54.9% FG percentage (28 of 51) and converted 11 out of their 25 3-point attempts.

Skylar Wicks is a guy who came through in this matchup. He scored 20 points on 7 out of 14 shooting. He was on the court for 35 minutes and collected 11 boards. He finished the contest at 50.0% from the floor and totaled 1 assist.

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Saint Francis enters this matchup with a win-loss record of 6-14 for the campaign. They have an average of 70.1 points per outing (314th in the country) on 41.9% from the floor. The Red Flash are hitting 33.9% on shots from 3-point land (161 of 475) and 70.7% from the charity stripe. As a team, Saint Francis is pulling in 33.3 boards per game and has totaled 280 assists on the season, which has them ranked 220th in D-1 in terms of passing the rock. They cough up possession 12.8 times per game and as a team they commit 17.9 personal fouls on a nightly basis.

When they are on the defensive end, the Red Flash have forced 13.1 turnovers per contest and they draw 16.0 personal fouls. They are conceding 37.2% from 3-point land and they are 330th in college in opponents PPG (80.5). The Red Flash defense is giving up an opponent FG percentage of 47.9% (571 of 1,193) and they relinquish 37.4 boards per game as a squad. They are currently ranked 336th in the nation in giving up assists with 334 conceded so far this year.

When they last stepped on the court, the Chicago State Cougars walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 61-59 when they faced Mercyhurst. The Cougars earned 21 defensive boards and 7 offensive rebounds totaling 28 in the game. They gave up possession 6 times, while recording 6 steals for this contest. Mercyhurst committed 9 fouls in this matchup which took the Cougars to the free throw line for a total of 11 tries. They were able to make 8 of the free throw tries for a percentage of 72.7%. When talking about 3-point attempts, Chicago State converted 9 of 23 tries (39.1%). When the final whistle blew, the Cougars finished the game shooting 21 out of 56 from the floor which had them shooting 37.5%. The Cougars permitted Mercyhurst to knock down 23 out of 50 attempts from the floor which gave them a rate of 46.0% in this contest. They went 40.0% from beyond the perimeter by shooting 10 out of 25 and finished the game at 5 out of 7 at the charity stripe (71.4%). In the matter of cleaning the glass, Chicago State allowed Mercyhurst to grab 29 in all (5 offensive).

Braelon Bush pitched in for the Cougars in the matchup. He buried 5 out of 7 for this contest for a field goal rate of 71.4%, and had 3 rebounds. He recorded 13 points in his 23 mins on the court and added 1 assist in the matchup.

Chicago State has a win-loss record of 2-19 so far this year. In terms of offensive execution, the Cougars are hitting on 39.3% from the floor, which ranks 357th in college. Chicago State has totaled 1,365 points so far this year (65.0 per game) and they collect 31.5 rebounds per game. Their rate of earning assists is at 10.3 times per contest (359th in college) and they are turning it over 11.7 times per contest. The Cougars are committing 19.3 fouls per game and they hit 74.7% from the free throw line.

The Chicago State defense gives up 35.5% on shots from distance (227 of 639) and opponents are knocking down 74.0% of their free throw shots. They have given up 19.4 assists and 37.4 boards per game, which has them ranked 364th and 320th in those categories on the defensive end. The Cougars on the defensive end are ranked 315th in college in PPG given up with 79.6. They are forcing their opponents into 13.4 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 47.7% from the floor (340th in college).

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Saint Francis

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