Akron Zips vs Ball State Cardinals Prediction, 2/25/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Akron Zips vs Ball State Cardinals

Date: Tuesday, February 25, 2025

Location: Worthen Arena in Pittsburgh, PA

TV: ESPN+

Worthen Arena is the location where the Ball State Cardinals (14-13) will try to defeat the Akron Zips (21-6) on Tuesday.

The Akron Zips faced Ohio and ended up losing by a score of 84-67 in their last contest. Akron walked away from the contest with a 44.3% field goal percentage (27 of 61) and buried 4 out of their 18 3-point shots. From the free throw line, the Zips converted 9 of their 14 shots for a rate of 64.3%. Regarding grabbing boards, they earned 36 with 9 of them being offensive. They also doled out 10 assists for the matchup in addition to forcing the opposition into 5 turnovers and having 3 steals. In terms of defending, Akron let their opponent shoot 46.9% from the field on 30 of 64 shooting. Ohio doled out 11 assists and had 9 steals for the matchup. In addition, Ohio collected 30 rebounds (7 offensive, 23 defensive), but wasn't able to put a block in the stat sheet. Ohio ended up shooting 73.9% at the free throw line by converting 17 of their 23 tries. They knocked down 7 of 26 shots from downtown. When it comes to fouls, the Zips left the arena with 21 and Ohio racked up 14 fouls.

Amani Lyles is a player who played a role for the contest. He shot 87.5% from the field but wasn't able to get a dime. He saw the court for 20 minutes played and also snagged 4 rebounds. He walked away with 17 points on 7 out of 8 shooting.

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Akron comes into this game with a win-loss record of 21-6 for the season. They currently have an average of 83.6 points per game (13th in the country) while connecting on 46.7% from the floor. The Zips are shooting 35.9% from downtown (295 of 821) and 74.6% from the charity stripe. As a team, Akron is collecting 39.8 boards per contest and has accumulated 498 assists for the year, which ranks 6th in college in terms of passing the rock. They lose possession via turnover 12.6 times per contest and as a unit are committing 18.3 fouls on a nightly basis.

On defense, the Zips are forcing their opponents into 12.8 turnovers every game while drawing 16.2 fouls. They are currently ranked 50th in D-1 in giving up assists with 317 surrendered this year. The Zips defensively are giving up a shooting percentage of 42.0% (700 of 1,666) and they concede 35.4 rebounds per game as a group. They concede 30.8% from beyond the arc and they are 243rd in college in points per game allowed (73.8).

For their last game, the Ball State Cardinals took home the win by a final score of 80-66 when they played Buffalo. The Cardinals earned 25 defensive rebounds and 11 offensive rebounds totaling 36 in the game. They also turned the ball over 11 times, while getting 5 steals for this game. Buffalo committed 29 fouls for the game which took the Cardinals to the charity stripe for a total of 36 tries. They were able to knock down 26 of the free throws for a rate of 72.2%. Regarding shooting from beyond the arc, Ball State converted 6 of 13 tries (46.2%). When the final whistle blew, the Cardinals went 24 for 55 from the field which gave them a rate of 43.6%. The Cardinals allowed Buffalo to make 22 of their 55 tries from the floor which gave them a percentage of 40.0% in this game. They shot 17.4% from 3-point land by connecting on 4 out of 23 and finished the game at 18 of 26 from the free throw line (69.2%). With respect to how they attacked the glass, Ball State permitted Buffalo to snag 30 in total (8 on the offensive glass).

Payton Sparks was important for the Cardinals for this game. He recorded 18 points in his 23 mins of playing time and added 1 assist for this game. He converted 6 out of 10 for this game giving him a rate of 60.0%, and had 8 rebounds.

Ball State has a win-loss record of 14-13 for the campaign. As an offensive unit, the Cardinals are hitting on 46.3% from the field, which ranks them 103rd in the nation. Ball State has 2,069 pts this season (76.6 per game) and they pull in 35.7 rebounds per game. They are getting an assist 13.3 times per contest (214th in college) and they lose possession via turnover 11.9 times per game. The Cardinals have committed 16.6 fouls per game and they shoot 69.9% from the free throw line.

The Cardinals on the defensive side of the court are 258th in college hoops in points allowed per contest with 74.2. They have forced 10.3 turnovers per game and have let teams shoot 44.2% from the floor (217th in college hoops). The Ball State defense surrenders 31.1% on shots from beyond the arc (201 of 647) and opponents are converting on 72.0% of their shots from the charity stripe. They have conceded 14.1 assists and 33.9 rebounds on a nightly basis, which has them ranked 266th and 160th in those categories on the defensive end.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Akron

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