Mercyhurst vs Fairleigh Dickinson Prediction 2/1/25 College Basketball Picks

The Mercyhurst Lakers and the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights meet Saturday in college basketball action from Rothman Center. Here’s a Mercyhurst vs Fairleigh Dickinson prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Mercyhurst vs Fairleigh Dickinson pick. We will examine: 

The Mercyhurst Lakers’ recent form and player performance

The Fairleigh Dickinson Knights’ recent form and player performance 

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Mercyhurst Lakers

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights

Recent betting trends in games played between Mercyhurst and Fairleigh Dickinson

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Mercyhurst vs Fairleigh Dickinson game

Mercyhurst Lakers Betting Preview

The Lakers started out the year on a pretty strong run, but they’ve been struggling since mid-November (things haven’t been too bad lately, though). Mercyhurst opened on a 4-2 stretch with wins over Morgan State, Houghton, Canisius, and Mount Aloysius. A 2-7 run came next featuring losses to Air Force, California, San Francisco, Lafayette, Kent State, Binghamton, and West Virginia alongside wins over Sac State and Penn State Altoona. The next four were a 1-3 stretch with a win over Stonehill and losses to Central Connecticut, St. Francis PA, and Le Moyne. Mercyhurst won three of the next four, however, taking out Wagner twice and Long Island U once for a 10-13 opening run through their first 23 games of the year. 

In their Thursday game versus St. Francis PA, the Lakers held a 29-23 halftime edge. Mercyhurst was outscored 35-33 from there but managed to hang on for the win 62-58. Leading the team in scoring was Bernie Blunt with 22 points, three assists, and two rebounds. Jeff Planutis added 18 points with three boards and two steals, while Aidan Reichert chipped in with 16 points and eight boards. The Lakers bench didn’t provide any points, but Mykolas Ivanauskas had six rebounds, two blocks, and a steal in 14 minutes of work. 

Fairleigh Dickinson Knights Betting Preview

Over on the Knights’ side, they struggled through their first 15 games this year, but they’ve similarly been better in the record column lately. Fairleigh Dickinson posted a 4-11 stretch through the first 15 outings. Those losses came versus Miami, Creighton, Nebraska, Army, Saint Peter’s, Fairfield, Fordham, Villanova, La Salle, Minnesota, and Boston College. The next six games were a much better 4-2 run though. Those losses were versus St. Francis PA and Central Connecticut. Otherwise, it was wins over Wagner, Le Moyne, Chicago State, and Stonehill, giving Fairleigh Dickinson an 8-13 overall run through 21 games. 

Matched up against Le Moyne on Thursday, Fairleigh Dickinson was ahead 40-34 going into the second half. The Knights were outpaced 40-38 the rest of the way but held on for the win 78-74 in the end. Jameel Morris was the top scorer, coming off the bench for 25 minutes to contribute 20 points with three rebounds and six steals. Terrence Brown put u 16 points with eight assists and four rebounds in 33 minutes of work to lead the starters in the win. 

Why the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights will win

• Mercyhurst has lost seven of its last eight road games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• The home team has won six of Mercyhurst’s last seven games.
• Mercyhurst has lost the first half in each of its last five road games.

Why the Mercyhurst Lakers will win

• Mercyhurst has won four of its last five games.
• Fairleigh Dickinson has lost seven of its last nine games following a home win.

Mercyhurst vs Fairleigh Dickinson Prediction 

I’ll stay with Fairleigh Dickinson. The Knights gave up quite a bit to Le Moyne in their latest game, but still escaped with the win. FDU surrendered 54.5 percent shooting with a 33-30 rebounding deficit and 12 turnovers for 13 Dolphins points. The 12-of-24 (50 percent) from the line was pretty ugly as well. Even coming off a win, there’s a lot to improve upon here for Fairleigh Dickinson. The only good news was the scoring total (78) following three straight games below 66 points. 

As for Mercyhurst, they’re coming off a win as well and they’ve been doing a solid job in the record column lately. The Lakers are 4-1 in their last five with a lone OT loss to LIU in that time. I like Mercyhurst to give FDU a good fight here, with the Knights eventually powering it out.