Cleveland State vs IPFW Prediction 1/30/25 College Basketball Picks

The Cleveland State Vikings and the Fort Wayne Mastodons meet Thursday in college basketball action from Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. Here’s a Cleveland State vs Fort Wayne prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Cleveland State vs Fort Wayne pick. We will examine:

The Cleveland State Vikings’ recent form and player performance

The Fort Wayne Mastodons’ recent form and player performance

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Cleveland State Vikings

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Fort Wayne Mastodons

Recent betting trends in games played between Cleveland State and Fort Wayne

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Cleveland State vs Fort Wayne game

Cleveland State Vikings Betting Preview

Cleveland State kicked off the season on a shaky run, but they’re doing much better since early December record-wise. The Vikings posted a rough 4-6 stretch in their first 10 games, taking losses to Michigan, Kansas State, Minnesota, Kent State, Morehead State, and Milwaukee in that time. Cleveland State has since hit a nice win streak though, taking out Green Bay Brescia, Oakland, Midway, Wright State, IUPUI, Robert Morris, Youngstown State, Northern Kentucky, IUPUI again, Detroit, and Green Bay in succession during that time. The result so far has been a 16-6 overall record through 22 games so far this year.

In the Green Bay matchup over the weekend, the Vikings held a slim 34-33 edge going into the second half. Cleveland State posted a 47-33 run the rest of the way though, surging to an 81-66 win in the end. Tops in scoring was Chase Robinson, who notched 17 points with four rebounds and one assist off the bench. Tevin Smith added 15 points with eight rebounds, five assists, and two steals, while Reece Robinson doubled up on 14 points with 11 boards.

Fort Wayne Mastodons Betting Preview

Over on the Fort Wayne side, they’ve remained pretty consistent all year, with no instances of consecutive losses just yet. The Mastodons kicked things off on a shaky 5-4 stretch though, beating Bluffton, Bethune-Cookman, Southern Indiana, Drexel, and East Texas A&M in that time. A 5-2 run came next featuring losses to Michigan and Northern Kentucky amid wins over Robert Morris, IUPUI, Eastern Michigan, Defiance, and Green Bay. Since then it’s been a 5-1 run with a loss to Oakland alongside wins over Youngstown State, Milwaukee, Detroit, Wright State, and IUPUI in that time for a 15-7 overall record through 22 games so far this year.

In the IUPUI matchup back on Saturday, the Mastodons held a 50-35 edge going into the second half. Fort Wayne was outscored 45-41 the rest of the way but still powered out the win 91-80 in the end. Leading the team in scoring with a whopping 38 points, seven boards, six assists, and two steals was Jalen Jackson. Maximus Nelson added 15 points as well.

Why the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons will win

• Purdue Fort Wayne has won each of its last seven home games against the Horizon League.
• Cleveland State has lost the first half in seven of its last nine road games.

Why the Cleveland State Vikings will win

• Cleveland State has won each of its last 12 games against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Cleveland State vs Fort Wayne Prediction

I’ll stick with Fort Wayne. This should be a pretty fun matchup regardless, though. The Mastodons took care of a struggling IUPUI team pretty well in their last outing, shooting 56.6 percent from the field with 10-of-22 (45.5 percent) from 3-point range. Fort Wayne did get out-rebounded pretty badly 40-29 and had 10 turnovers, though. Still, the Mastodons have posted 72 or more points in six straight games, a 5-1 run. They should be able to notch a nice total in this one as well.

As for Cleveland State, they started a little slowly versus a bad Green Bay team in their last game but picked it up after the break. The Vikings ended up with a 42-28 rebounding edge in that win, which would help them immensely here. I like a high total in a close matchup on Thursday, with Fort Wayne powering it out in the end.