Canisius vs Iona Prediction 1/16/25 College Basketball Picks

The Canisius Golden Griffins and the Iona Gaels meet Thursday in college basketball action from Hynes Athletic Center. Here’s a Canisius vs Iona prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Canisius vs Iona pick. We will examine:

The Canisius Golden Griffins’ recent form and player performance

The Iona Gaels’ recent form and player performance

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Canisius Golden Griffins

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Iona Gaels

Recent betting trends in games played between Canisius and Iona

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Canisius vs Iona game

Canisius Golden Griffins Betting Preview

It’s been a very tough year for the Golden Griffins so far—to put it mildly. Canisius opened the season on a pretty epic skid, and they’ve failed to find any traction whatsoever in the win column. The Griffins fell to Arizona, St. Bonaventure, Mercyhurst, SIU Edwardsville, Western Michigan, Maryland, Brown, Robert Morris, Merrimack, Siena, Maine, Loyola, Bradley, and Sacred Heart in succession during an ugly 0-14 start. Canisius finally got their first victory of the season on January 10 over Rider, but then fell right back into the loss column in the next game versus Saint Peter’s, giving the Griffins a 1-15 overall record through 16 games.

In the Saint Peter’s matchup back on Sunday, the Golden Griffins came out of the break with a 34-22 deficit. Canisius got better in the second half—but not any closer—on a 28-27 run for an eventual 62-49 loss in the end. Tana Kopa came off the bench to provide a team-high 12 points with two boards and two steals. Jasman Sangha added 11 points off the bench as well. Leading starter Paul McMillan put up 11 points with four assists and three rebounds.

Iona Gaels Betting Preview

Over on the Iona side, they’ve had quite a rough season so far as well—though not quite as rough as Canisius has. The Gaels opened on a 2-8 stretch through their first 10 games, beating only Vermont and Tarleton State alongside losses to Princeton, Hofstra, Delaware, West Virginia, Cornell, Indiana State, Rice, and Sacred Heart. Since then it’s been a 3-4 stretch over the last seven games for Iona. In that time they’ve beaten Saint Peter’s, Colgate, and Siena alongside losses to Harvard, Marist, Fairfield, and Quinnipiac. The result has been a 5-12 overall record through the first 17 games of the season for Iona.

In the Quinnipiac game over the weekend, the Gaels held a 37-33 edge at the break. Iona fell behind on a 30-25 run the rest of the way and eventually lost 63-62 in a tough result. Tops in scoring was Dejour Reaves with a double-double on 16 points, 10 boards, two assists, and two steals in 28 minutes. The only other player on the team to finish in double-figures as far as scoring was Luke Jungers, who came off the bench to provide 10 points and three boards.

Why the Iona Gaels will win

• Canisius has lost 15 of its last 16 games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Iona has won 10 of its last 11 games against Canisius.
• Canisius has lost the first half in each of its last five games at Hynes Athletics Center against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Why the Canisius Golden Griffins will win

• Iona has lost nine of its last 10 night games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Canisius has won the first half in three of its last four night games against Conference opponents.

Canisius vs Iona Prediction

Initially, I was leaning toward Iona, but the line seems thick enough for Canisius to get in there. There’s very little to get excited about here though, as both teams are struggling mightily this year. The Gaels have at least been fairly competitive over this current 1-4 skid, and they managed to hold Quinnipiac to just 34.4 percent shooting in their latest defeat. The trouble is, Iona also shot just 35.7 percent themselves with 12 turnovers and a 47-42 rebounding deficit. The Gaels have been below 66 points in four of the last five games (each of the losses), but they should be able to tamp down Canisius’ scoring in this one as well.

The Griffins have been below 61 points in three of the last five (a 1-4 run) themselves, so we’re probably looking at a low-scoring—though fairly competitive—matchup here.