West Georgia Wolves vs North Florida Ospreys Prediction, 1/8/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: West Georgia Wolves vs North Florida Ospreys

Date: Thursday, January 8, 2026

Location: UNF Arena in Jacksonville, FL

TV: ESPN+

UNF Arena is where the North Florida Ospreys (2-13) will try to defeat the West Georgia Wolves (8-6) on Thursday.

The West Georgia Wolves took the court against Eastern Kentucky and went home with a win by a final score of 88-76 in their last contest. Regarding fouls, the Wolves walked away with 12 and Eastern Kentucky finished the game with 18 fouls. They knocked down 11 of their 36 shots from distance. Eastern Kentucky finished the game shooting 50.0% when shooting free throws by making 5 of 10 attempts. In addition, Eastern Kentucky collected 29 rebounds (10 offensive, 19 defensive), but wrapped up the game with no rejections. Eastern Kentucky earned 12 assists and had 7 steals in this matchup. In relation to defense, West Georgia allowed the other team to shoot 44.1% from the field on 30 out of 68 shooting. They also doled out 10 dimes for the matchup while forcing the other team into 8 turnovers and having 6 steals. Regarding hauling in boards, they earned 38 with 11 of them being of the offensive variety. From the charity stripe, the Wolves made 17 of 22 attempts for a rate of 77.3%. West Georgia finished the game with a 54.0% FG percentage (34 of 63) and knocked down 3 of their 13 3-point attempts.

Shelton Williams-Dryden is a guy who came through in the matchup. He ended up scoring 32 points on 13 of 22 shooting. He saw the court for 37 mins and grabbed 13 boards. He finished the game at 59.1% from the field but didn't record an assist.

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West Georgia heads into this matchup with a win-loss record of 8-6 this season. They are averaging 77.9 pts per contest (173rd in the nation) while shooting 43.4% from the field. The Wolves are hitting 35.5% on three-point shots (108 of 304) and 72.2% from the charity stripe. As a unit, West Georgia is pulling down 38.5 rebounds per game and has totaled 190 dimes so far this season, which is 296th in the country in terms of passing the rock. They turn it over 11.8 times per game and as a team are committing 16.4 personal fouls on a nightly basis.

On defense, the Wolves are forcing 11.1 turnovers per game and they draw 16.7 fouls. They currently rank 269th in college in giving up assists to their opponents with 222 surrendered this season. The Wolves are giving up a shooting percentage of 45.4% (409 of 901) and they surrender 39.3 boards per game as a team. They are conceding 31.8% on shots from beyond the arc and they are 325th in Division 1 in PPG allowed (80.6).

The last time they took the court, the North Florida Ospreys took a loss by a score of 82-74 when they faced Lipscomb. In regard to rebounding, North Florida allowed Lipscomb to grab 43 in total (16 on the offensive side). They finished 36.1% from behind the 3-point line by shooting 13 of 36 and ended up shooting 15 of 22 from the free throw line (68.2%). The Ospreys permitted Lipscomb to make 27 of their 71 tries from the floor which had them shooting 38.0% in this game. At the conclusion of this game, the Ospreys finished 27 out of 70 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 38.6%. When talking about shots from downtown, North Florida converted 16 of their 46 attempts (34.8%). They were able to bury 4 of those for a percentage of 100.0%. Lipscomb committed 10 personal fouls in this matchup which took the Ospreys to the charity stripe for 4 shots. They also turned the ball over 13 times, while getting 1 steal for the matchup. The Ospreys snagged 33 defensive rebounds and 10 offensive boards totaling 43 in the matchup.

Kamrin Oriol ended up being a major contributor for the Ospreys for the game. He recorded 19 points in his 36 minutes of playing time and had 4 dimes in the matchup. He made 6 of 17 in the matchup for a rate of 35.3%, and accounted for 3 rebounds.

North Florida has a record of 2-13 on the year. On the offensive side of the ball, the Ospreys are shooting 43.7% from the field, which ranks 270th in the nation. North Florida has scored 1,184 pts for the season (78.9 per game) and they snag 31.4 rebounds per contest. They are earning an assist 14.0 times per contest (212th in college) and they turn it over 13.8 times per game. The Ospreys are committing 18.7 fouls per game and they shoot 77.2% from the free throw line.

The North Florida defense allows 33.9% on shots from 3-point land (134 of 395) and their opponents are connecting on 69.2% of their shots from the free throw line. They surrender 18.1 dimes and 42.3 rebounds per game, which is 358th and 363rd in college. The Ospreys on the defensive side of the court are 362nd in college hoops in PPG given up with 90.5. They have forced 11.9 TO's every game and allow teams to shoot 49.4% from the floor (356th in college hoops).

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take West Georgia

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