McNeese State vs Nicholls State Prediction 2/1/25 College Basketball Picks

The McNeese State Cowboys and the Nicholls State Colonels meet Saturday in college basketball action from Stopher Gym. Here’s a McNeese State vs Nicholls State prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best McNeese State vs Nicholls State pick. We will examine: 

The McNeese State Cowboys’ recent form and player performance

The Nicholls State Colonels’ recent form and player performance 

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the McNeese State Cowboys

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Nicholls State Colonels

Recent betting trends in games played between McNeese State and Nicholls State

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the McNeese State vs Nicholls State game

McNeese State Cowboys Betting Preview

The Cowboys opened the year on a .500 run over their first 10 games, but it’s been a lengthy string of victories since then. McNeese lost to South Dakota State, Alabama, Liberty, Santa Clara, and Mississippi State in their first 10 outings, with wins otherwise versus College of Biblical Studies, North Texas, Illinois State, Longwood, and LeTourneau. Since then the Cowboys have dispatched Louisiana, New Orleans, SE Louisiana, East Texas A&M, Northwestern State, Nicholls, Houston Christian, Lamar, Stephen F. Austin, UTRGV, and Texas A&M Corpus Christi for a 16-5 overall run through the first 21 games of the season. 

In their Monday matchup with Texas A&M-CC, the Cowboys went into the locker room with a 37-35 deficit. McNeese closed on a 39-36 run though, and were able to eke out a 74-73 road victory in the end. Tops in scoring was Javohn Garcia with 14 points, four boards, and three assists. DJ Richards added 11 points and two boards, while Brandon Murray put up 11 points with four rebounds off the bench in 27 minutes of work. 

Nicholls State Colonels Betting Preview

Over on the Nicholls side, they’ve had a few bad stretches so far this year, but overall they’ve been able to keep their heads above the .500 mark. The Colonels started on a 2-4 run with losses to New Mexico, South Alabama, Cincinnati, and Towson, then beat Mississippi College, Louisiana, SE Louisiana, New Orleans, and Southern New Orleans in the next five outings. A 2-2 run came next with losses to Gonzaga and Northwestern State amid wins over Seattle U and Texas A&M. Since then it’s been a 3-3 run with losses to McNeese, Lamar, and Texas A&M-CC amid wins over Incarnate Word, Stephen F. Austin and UTRGV. The result so far has been a 12-9 overall record for the Colonels in their first 21 outings of the year. 

Matched up against UTRGV in their Monday game, the Colonels held a 34-30 deficit at the break. Nicholls got better from there on a 52-41 second-half advantage and took the eventual win 82-75 in the end. Leading the team in scoring was Robert Brown, the only starter in double-digits with 24 points, four rebounds, one assist, and one steal. Byron Ireland did a good job off the bench though, kicking in 21 points with four rebounds and four assists. 

Why the Nicholls State Colonels will win

• Nicholls State has won 21 of its last 25 day games at David R. Stopher Gym.
• McNeese State has lost nine of its last 11 games at David R. Stopher Gym against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Why the McNeese State Cowboys will win

• McNeese State has won each of its last 21 games against Conference opponents.
• Nicholls State has lost four of its last five day games against the Southland Conference.

McNeese State vs Nicholls State Prediction 

I’ll try McNeese in this one, but you could probably make a case either way. The Cowboys eked by a decent Texas A&M-CC team in their last outing thanks to 48.2 percent shooting from the field and 52.2 percent (12-of-23) from outside. McNeese was sloppy with the ball on 12 turnovers for 13 Islanders points, though. Still, that makes 74 or more points in the last 10 games of this current 11-game win streak for the Cowboys. 

These teams last saw each other back on January 11 in an 80-71 home win for McNeese. Neither team shot very well in that one (both under 38 percent), but McNeese posted a 46-35 rebounding edge and had 20 points off 16 Nicholls turnovers. The Cowboys will need to up that shooting percentage in this road rematch, as they can’t rely on mistakes this time.