Army vs American Prediction 2/1/25 College Basketball Picks

The Army Black Knights and the American Eagles meet Saturday in college basketball action from Bender Arena. Here’s an Army vs American prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Army vs American pick. We will examine: 

The Army Black Knights’ recent form and player performance

The American Eagles’ recent form and player performance 

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Army Black Knights

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the American Eagles

Recent betting trends in games played between Army and American

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

Army Black Knights Betting Preview

Army came into the new calendar year with a pretty shaky record. To their credit, however, the Knights have looked better since early January. Army opened on a 6-8 run, with wins over Albany, Mount St. Mary NY, Fairleigh Dickinson, SUNY-Maritime, Le Moyne, and UTSA. The losses came versus Duke, Marist, Manhattan, Cornell, George Washington, Binghamton, Colgate, and Boston U. Since then it’s been a 7-1 run with a lone loss to Navy. Otherwise, Army has dispatched Loyola MD, Lehigh, Lafayette, Boston U, Holy Cross, and Colgate in that time, giving them a 12-9 overall record through the first 21 games of the season so far. 

In the Colgate matchup on Wednesday, the Knights held a 44-33 edge in the first half. Army kept it up from there on a 40-39 advantage and took the win in the end 84-72. Leading the team in scoring was Kevin McCarthy, who came off the bench for 14 points and one assist in 16 minutes of work. Leading the starters was Josh Scovens with 13 points and two boards, while AJ Allenspach chipped in with 10 points, four rebounds, and three assists. 

American Eagles Betting Preview

Over on the American side, they’ve been pretty erratic all year with some nice runs mixed among some bad stretches. The Eagles lost four of their first five games versus La Salle, Siena, North Carolina, and High Point (with a win over Harvard). A win streak over Kansas City, Puerto Rico Bayamon, Albany, Notre Dame MD, and George Washington came next, then a 1-5 stretch. Those losses were versus Saint Joseph’s, Virginia, UMBC, Navy, and Boston U. American has won six straight games since then, though. Those victories were over Bucknell, Loyola MD, Holy Cross, Lehigh, Colgate, and Lafayette, giving the team a 13-9 record so far this year through 22 outings total. 

Matched up against Lafayette in their Wednesday game, the Eagles hit a 33-31 run in the first half. American kept it up after the break on a 42-37 run, eventually taking the win 75-68. Matt Rogers put up 21 points with eight rebounds and two assists to lead the team. Greg Jones added 17 points with three rebounds, and Colin Smalls had 14 points with two assists. The only bench scoring came from Matt Mayock with five points and a pair of rebounds. 

Why the American University Eagles will win

• American University has won each of its last six games against the Patriot League.
• Army has lost each of its last five games at Bender Arena against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Army has lost the first half in each of its last three day games at Bender Arena against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Why the Army Black Knights will win

• Army has won six of its last seven games against the Patriot League.
• Army has won the first half in three of its last four games against the Patriot League.

Army vs American Prediction 

I’ll lean toward American. The Eagles didn’t have a ton of issues putting away Lafayette in their last outing, though they only shot 40.7 percent from the field with a 38-32 rebounding deficit in that one. The 12 points off eight Leopards turnovers really helped, as did the 11-of-28 (39.3 percent) from 3-point range and the 16-of-17 (94.1 percent) from the line. American has hit 68 or more points in each installment of this current six-game win streak, so if they can reach that threshold again here the Eagles will be in good shape. 

As for Army, they’ve been scoring well themselves with 68 or more points in six of the last seven outings (all six were wins). This should be a pretty fun matchup, but in the end, I like American to power it out in a fairly close (and fun to watch) contest.