Western Michigan Broncos vs Kent State Golden Flashes Prediction, 3/6/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Western Michigan Broncos vs Kent State Golden Flashes

Date: Friday, March 6, 2026

Location: M.A.C. Center in Kent, OH

TV: ESPN+

The Western Michigan Broncos (10-20) are headed to M.A.C. Center on Friday where they will attempt to beat the Kent State Golden Flashes (22-8).

The Western Michigan Broncos played Ball State and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 74-71 in their last contest. In relation to fouls, the Broncos finished with 13 while Ball State finished the game with 19 fouls. They also converted 5 of 13 tries from downtown. Ball State walked away from this one shooting 57.9% from the charity stripe by making 11 of 19 shots. Additionally, Ball State snagged 31 rebounds (6 offensive, 25 defensive), but didn't notch a rejection. Ball State doled out 13 assists and had 9 steals for this contest. Pertaining to the defense, Western Michigan let their opponent shoot 46.8% from the floor on 29 of 62 shooting. They also dished out 9 dimes for this contest while forcing 6 turnovers and getting 1 steal. With respect to pulling down boards, they earned a total of 34 with 6 of them being of the offensive sort. When they shot from the free throw line, the Broncos made 19 of their 24 shots for a percentage of 79.2%. Western Michigan ended the contest with a 41.1% FG percentage (23 out of 56) and buried 6 of their 19 three-point shots.

Justice Williams is one player who was a major contributor in this matchup. He recorded 22 points on 8 of 17 shooting. He was on the court for 40 mins and also collected 6 rebounds. He shot 47.1% from the floor and earned 1 assist.

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Western Michigan will enter this matchup with a record of 10-20 so far this year. They lose possession by turning the ball over 12.2 times per game and as a team are committing 18.8 personal fouls every game. As a team, Western Michigan is grabbing 36.4 boards per contest and has racked up 378 dimes so far this year, which ranks 282nd in the country in terms of passing the ball. The Broncos are shooting 35.0% on three-point attempts (215 of 615) and 74.2% from the charity stripe. They are averaging 74.7 pts per contest (214th in college hoops) while hitting 44.2% from the floor.

On defense, the Broncos are able to force 9.8 turnovers per contest while drawing 17.3 personal fouls. They currently rank 288th in college in allowing assists to their opponents with 449 conceded on the year. The Broncos defensively are giving up a field goal percentage of 46.0% (820 of 1,781) and they concede 34.5 rebounds per contest as a team. They are conceding 35.4% on 3-point shots while they are 319th in college in PPG allowed (79.3).

For their last game, the Kent State Golden Flashes went home victorious with a score of 102-76 when they played Northern Illinois. The Golden Flashes earned 26 defensive boards and 10 offensive rebounds for a total of 36 in the game. They also gave up possession of the ball 9 times, while recording 9 steals in this matchup. Northern Illinois committed 25 personal fouls for this contest which took the Golden Flashes to the charity stripe for a total of 35 tries. They were able to bury 29 of those for a percentage of 82.9%. When talking about 3-point shots, Kent State made 15 out of 33 tries (45.5%). When the game finished, the Golden Flashes ended up shooting 29 out of 61 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 47.5%. The Golden Flashes permitted Northern Illinois to convert 22 out of their 55 tries from the floor which gave them a percentage of 40.0% in this matchup. They finished shooting 23.1% from three-point range via 6 of 26 and walked away from this one shooting 26 out of 36 at the free throw line (72.2%). When it comes to how they cleaned up the glass, Kent State allowed Northern Illinois to grab 27 overall (7 on the offensive side).

Delrecco Gillespie was important for the Golden Flashes in the game. He had 18 points in his 23 minutes of playing time and totaled 2 assists in this game. He buried 5 out of 13 for the game giving him a field goal percentage of 38.5%, and accounted for 4 rebounds.

Kent State has a record of 22-8 for the season. In terms of offensive execution, the Golden Flashes are shooting 45.6% from the field, which is ranked 160th in D-1. Kent State has tallied 2,568 pts on the year (85.6 per game) and they collect 39.8 boards per game. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 16.4 times per contest (48th in the country) and they lose possession via turnover 13.6 times per game. The Golden Flashes are committing 19.5 personal fouls every game and they shoot 74.2% from the free throw line.

The Kent State defense allows 34.4% on shots from behind the 3-point line (273 of 793) and their opposition makes 72.2% of their shots from the free throw line. They give up 14.7 assists and 34.0 boards every game, which is ranked 281st and 157th in college hoops. The Golden Flashes on the defensive end are ranked 332nd in the country in PPG allowed with 80.0. They are able to force 12.4 TO's every game and allow teams to shoot 43.8% from the floor (154th in college hoops).

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Western Michigan

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