Valparaiso Beacons vs Bradley Braves Prediction, 2/3/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Valparaiso Beacons vs Bradley Braves

Date: Tuesday, February 3, 2026

Location: Carver Arena in Peoria, IL

TV: ESPN+

The Bradley Braves (14-8) will take on the Valparaiso Beacons (10-11) at Carver Arena on Tuesday.

The Valparaiso Beacons took the court against Indiana State and went home with a win by a final score of 76-72 in their last contest. Valparaiso finished the game with a 43.8% field goal percentage (28 of 64) and knocked down 3 of their 14 3-point shots. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Beacons knocked down 17 of their 26 tries for a rate of 65.4%. Regarding grabbing rebounds, they compiled 38 with 12 of them being of the offensive sort. They also doled out 10 dimes in this game in addition to forcing the opposition into 11 turnovers and getting 8 steals. In the matter of defending, Valparaiso allowed the other team to shoot 45.8% from the field on 27 out of 59 shooting. Indiana State earned 13 assists and had 3 steals in this matchup. On top of that, Indiana State collected 26 rebounds (4 offensive, 22 defensive), but wasn't able to put a block in the stat sheet. Indiana State ended up shooting 57.1% at the free throw line by burying 12 of their 21 shots. They converted 6 of their 25 attempts from downtown. Regarding personal fouls, the Beacons walked away with 18 while Indiana State totaled 21 personal fouls.

JT Pettigrew is someone who was a major factor in the game. He notched 17 points on 7 of 13 shooting. He played for 35 minutes played and collected 9 rebounds. He walked away from this one shooting 53.8% from the floor but didn't record a dime.

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Valparaiso will enter this matchup with a win-loss mark of 10-11 on the year. They are turning it over 10.7 times per game and as a team are committing 18.4 fouls per contest. As a unit, Valparaiso is grabbing 36.6 boards per game and has racked up 242 dimes so far this season, which ranks 334th in Division 1 in terms of passing the rock. The Beacons are shooting 32.3% from downtown (149 of 461) and 72.1% from the free throw line. They average 71.1 pts per contest (304th in college) while connecting on 41.1% from the field.

Defensively, the Beacons have forced 11.9 turnovers per contest while drawing 19.5 personal fouls. They surrender 31.4% from 3-point land while they are 89th in college in PPG allowed (70.1). The Beacons defense is giving up a FG percentage of 43.3% (510 of 1,179) and they surrender 36.2 boards per contest as a unit. They are ranked 57th in college in allowing assists to their opponents with 246 surrendered so far this season.

When they last played, the Bradley Braves got the win with a final of 87-73 against Drake. The Braves were able to collect 24 defensive boards and 12 offensive rebounds totaling 36 for the matchup. They coughed up the ball 7 times, while getting 6 steals in the matchup. Drake was called for 13 personal fouls in this contest which took the Braves to the charity stripe for 14 shots. They were able to bury 10 of them for a percentage of 71.4%. Pertaining to three-point attempts, Bradley made 17 out of 26 tries (65.4%). When all was said and done, the Braves went 30 out of 63 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 47.6%. The Braves permitted Drake to convert 23 out of their 58 tries from the floor which left them with a rate of 39.7% in the game. They wrapped up this game 24.0% from three-point range by going 6 out of 25 and ended up going 21 of 26 from the free throw line (80.8%). When talking about team rebounding, Bradley allowed Drake to pull down 32 in all (13 on the offensive side).

Alex Huibregtse ended up being a major contributor for the Braves in the game. He converted 10 out of 14 in the game for a rate of 71.4%, and had 4 rebounds. He racked up 29 points in his 32 minutes of playing time and earned 2 dimes for the matchup.

Bradley has a record of 14-8 for the season. The Braves are responsible for committing 18.3 personal fouls every game and they go 73.2% from the charity stripe. They are earning an assist 12.8 times per game (277th in college hoops) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 9.4 times per contest. Bradley has accounted for 1,709 pts for the year (77.7 per game) and they collect 34.8 rebounds per contest. When it comes to offensive execution, the Braves are hitting on 43.3% from the field, which is ranked 290th in the country.

The Bradley defense surrenders 36.8% on shots from beyond the arc (190 of 516) and opponents are making 70.9% of their free throw shots. They give up 13.5 dimes and 36.8 rebounds per game, which has them ranked 187th and 306th in college hoops. The Braves on the defensive side of the court are 176th in college hoops in PPG given up with 73.3. They are forcing their opponents into 14.9 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 45.0% from the field (249th in college).

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Valparaiso

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