Vermont Catamounts vs UMass Lowell River Hawks Prediction, 1/22/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Vermont Catamounts vs UMass Lowell River Hawks

Date: Thursday, January 22, 2026

Location: Kennedy Family Athletic Complex in Lowell, MA

TV: ESPN+

The UMass Lowell River Hawks (8-11) will go up against the Vermont Catamounts (11-7) at Kennedy Family Athletic Complex on Thursday.

The Vermont Catamounts faced off with Albany and ended up losing by a score of 75-68 in their last game. Regarding personal fouls, the Catamounts ended up finishing with 17 and Albany accounted for 11 personal fouls. They made 9 of 25 tries from long range. Albany finished the contest at 75.0% at the charity stripe by burying 18 of 24 attempts. Moreover, Albany collected 28 rebounds (5 offensive, 23 defensive), but didn't have a block. Albany earned 17 dimes and had 12 steals in this game. Pertaining to defense, Vermont allowed their opponent to shoot 44.4% from the field on 24 of 54 shooting. They also recorded 10 assists for this game in addition to forcing the opposition into 8 turnovers and getting 2 steals. Regarding pulling down boards, they earned 29 with 6 of them being of the offensive variety. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Catamounts buried 11 of their 15 tries for a percentage of 73.3%. Vermont wrapped up the game with a 43.6% FG percentage (24 out of 55) and knocked down 9 out of their 24 3-pointers.

Gus Yalden is a player who was important for this game. He finished the contest at 61.5% from the field and also earned 2 assists. He saw the court for 31 mins played and also pulled down 8 rebounds. He ended up walking away with 21 points on 8 of 13 shooting.

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Vermont heads into this matchup with a record of 11-7 so far this year. They average 76.1 pts per contest (206th in D-1) while hitting 47.5% from the field. The Catamounts are shooting 34.6% on 3-point shots (158 of 456) and 73.8% from the charity stripe. As a team, Vermont is pulling down 35.1 rebounds per contest and has accounted for 238 assists on the season, which is 266th in the country in terms of passing the rock. They are turning it over 9.7 times per contest and as a squad they are committing 17.3 fouls on a nightly basis.

On defense, the Catamounts are forcing their opponents into 9.1 turnovers per game while drawing 16.7 personal fouls. They are giving up 35.7% from beyond the arc while they are 135th in college hoops in points per game from their opponents (72.0). The Catamounts defense is giving up a FG percentage of 44.2% (439 of 994) and they concede 30.6 rebounds per game as a team. They rank 112th in D-1 in allowing assists to the opposition with 229 surrendered on the campaign.

The last time they took the court, the UMass Lowell River Hawks went home defeated by a final of 73-64 against NJIT. The River Hawks were able to snag 29 defensive boards and 11 offensive boards totaling 40 for the game. They coughed up the ball 12 times, while recording 1 steal for the matchup. NJIT committed 21 fouls in this game which took the River Hawks to the charity stripe for a total of 25 attempts. They were able to bury 18 of the free throw attempts for a percentage of 72.0%. Concerning shots from downtown, UMass Lowell made 4 of 18 tries (22.2%). When the game finished, the River Hawks walked away from this one shooting 21 out of 58 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 36.2%. The River Hawks allowed NJIT to make 24 out of their 61 attempts from the floor which had them shooting 39.3% for this game. They shot 25.0% from 3-point land by connecting on 6 of 24 and walked away from this one shooting 19 out of 24 at the charity stripe (79.2%). When it comes to team rebounding, UMass Lowell allowed NJIT to get 34 in total (8 on the offensive glass).

Angel Montas was important for the River Hawks in this matchup. He made 7 out of 16 in this matchup giving him a field goal percentage of 43.8%, and accounted for 11 rebounds. He scored 22 points in his 36 minutes on the hardwood and totaled 1 assist in this matchup.

UMass Lowell has a mark of 8-11 so far this year. As an offensive team, the River Hawks are connecting on 47.3% from the floor, which has them ranked 81st in D-1. UMass Lowell has accumulated 1,451 pts for the season (76.4 per game) and they pull in 36.9 rebounds per game. They are earning an assist 13.0 times per contest (272nd in the nation) and they turn it over 13.4 times per contest. The River Hawks commit 15.5 fouls per game and they go 65.8% from the charity stripe.

The UMass Lowell defense allows 34.4% on shots from beyond the arc (155 of 451) and opponents are knocking down 73.7% of their shots from the charity stripe. They relinquish 14.4 assists and 33.2 total boards per game, which ranks them 262nd and 102nd in college hoops. The River Hawks defensively are ranked 294th in college hoops in points per game surrendered with 78.0. They are forcing 11.1 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 45.7% from the floor (286th in college).

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take UMass Lowell and under the total points

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