Ball State Cardinals vs Akron Zips Prediction, 2/4/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Ball State Cardinals vs Akron Zips

Date: Tuesday, February 4, 2025

Location: James A. Rhodes Arena in Akron, OH

TV: ESPN+

The Ball State Cardinals (10-11) are on their way to James A. Rhodes Arena on Tuesday where they will try to beat the Akron Zips (16-5).

The Ball State Cardinals faced Buffalo and earned the victory with a final of 89-76 in their last contest. Ball State finished the game having earned a 46.0% field goal percentage (29 out of 63) and converted 6 of their 17 three-point attempts. At the charity stripe, the Cardinals buried 25 of their 35 shots for a rate of 71.4%. When talking about grabbing rebounds, they compiled 39 with 14 of them being of the offensive sort. They also recorded 16 assists in this contest while forcing the other team into 10 turnovers and earning 4 steals. When discussing defending, Ball State allowed 38.5% from the field on 25 of 65 shooting. Buffalo distributed 18 dimes and had 5 steals for the matchup. Additionally, Buffalo pulled down 35 rebounds (12 offensive, 23 defensive), but wasn't able to record a block. Buffalo finished shooting 94.7% from the charity stripe by converting 18 of 19 shots. They converted 8 of 39 tries from three-point range. Concerning personal fouls, the Cardinals ended up with 18 while Buffalo had 22 personal fouls.

Payton Sparks is one guy who was a factor in this matchup. He ended up with 27 points on 10 of 19 shooting. He was on the court for 28 mins played and grabbed 14 rebounds. He finished the contest at 52.6% from the field and also earned 1 assist.

Get all of our NCAA Picks Today

Ball State comes into this matchup with a win-loss mark of 10-11 so far this season. They have an average of 76.1 points per outing (132nd in the nation) while shooting 45.9% from the field. The Cardinals are connecting on 34.7% on shots from downtown (154 of 444) and 68.7% from the charity stripe. As a team, Ball State is grabbing 36.2 rebounds per contest and has earned 284 assists on the year, which ranks 249th in the nation in terms of passing. They turn it over 12.0 times per game and as a unit they are committing 16.7 fouls every game.

Defensively, the Cardinals have forced 10.1 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 20.2 personal fouls. They currently rank 156th in college hoops in giving up assists to their opponents with 282 conceded this year. The Cardinals defense is giving up a field goal percentage of 43.2% (544 of 1,260) and they surrender 34.7 rebounds per contest as a team. They surrender 31.8% on 3-point attempts and they rank 245th in college in PPG allowed (73.7).

The last time they took the court, the Akron Zips went home victorious with a score of 85-71 when they faced Kent State. The Zips were able to snag 28 defensive rebounds and 11 offensive rebounds for a total of 39 in this contest. They also turned the ball over 12 times, while recording 6 steals in this matchup. Kent State had 19 personal fouls in the matchup which got the Zips to the charity stripe for 22 tries. They were able to knock down 16 of the free throws for a percentage of 72.7%. With regard to shots from 3-point land, Akron converted 11 of their 27 tries (40.7%). Overall, the Zips finished 29 out of 61 from the floor which had them sitting at 47.5%. The Zips permitted Kent State to convert 22 of 63 tries from the field which had them shooting 34.9% in the matchup. They finished shooting 24.0% from distance by connecting on 6 out of 25 and walked away from this one shooting 21 of 25 at the free throw line (84.0%). When discussing cleaning up the glass, Akron permitted Kent State to grab 29 overall (7 on the offensive side).

Nate Johnson was important for the Zips in this matchup. He scored 20 points in his 36 mins on the court and earned 3 assists for the contest. He converted 7 out of 15 in the game for a field goal rate of 46.7%, and accumulated 5 rebounds.

Akron has a win-loss record of 16-5 for the year. As an offensive unit, the Zips are shooting 45.7% from the field, which ranks them 137th in the country. Akron has scored 1,765 pts on the season (84.0 per contest) and they average 41.1 rebounds per contest. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 18.4 times per game (7th in college hoops) and they turn the ball over 12.6 times per game. The Zips have committed 18.4 fouls per game and they shoot 75.6% from the charity stripe.

The Zips defensively are ranked 230th in college hoops in PPG given up with 72.9. They have forced 13.3 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 41.4% from the field (79th in D-1). The Akron defense gives up 31.4% on shots from 3-point land (155 of 494) and opponents are knocking down 71.8% of their shots from the free throw line. They have surrendered 12.0 assists and 36.0 rebounds per contest, ranking them 91st and 272nd in college.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Ball State

Get $60 worth of FREE premium member picks. No Obligation. No Salesman. No Credit Card. Fast Sign up with Instant Access Click Here