Detroit Mercy (8-20) vs Cleveland State (18-9)
February 21, 2025 at 07:00 PM EST
The Line: Betting Odds: Detroit Mercy +8 — Over/Under:
The Cleveland State Vikings and the Detroit Titans meet Friday in college basketball action from Calihan Hall. Here’s a Cleveland State vs Detroit prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Cleveland State vs Detroit pick. We will examine:
The Cleveland State Vikings’ recent form and player performance
The Detroit Titans’ recent form and player performance
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Cleveland State Vikings
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Detroit Titans
Recent betting trends in games played between Cleveland State and Detroit
A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Cleveland State vs Detroit game
Cleveland State Vikings Betting Preview
The Vikings started out the year on a rough run, but they got it going in early December. Cleveland State hit a 4-6 stretch out of the gate, with losses versus Michigan, Kansas State, Minnesota, Kent State, Morehead State, and Milwaukee in that time. A win streak ensued over Green Bay, Brescia, Oakland, Midway U, Wright State, IUPUI, Robert Morris, Youngstown State, Northern Kentucky, IUPUI, Detroit, Green Bay, and Fort Wayne in succession. Since then, however, it’s been a 1-3 run for the Vikings with a lone win over Milwaukee. The losses otherwise have come versus Northern Kentucky, Robert Morris, and Youngstown State. That gives Cleveland State an 18-9 overall run through 27 games so far this year.
In Sunday’s matchup with Youngstown State, the Vikings were down by three points at halftime 30-27. Cleveland State didn’t get any closer than that, posting a 38-33 deficit the rest of the way in a 68-60 loss. Topping the team’s scorers was Dylan Arnett with 16 points, seven boards, and two assists. Tevin Smith added 15 points with three assists, and Chase Robinson had 15 bench points with two rebounds.
Detroit Titans Betting Preview
Over on the Detroit side, they’ve had some brief success here and there but overall it’s been a rough year. The Titans went 5-5 to start with losses to Loyola, Toledo, Wake Forest, Tulsa, and Rhode Island. Detroit would fall versus Wright State, Davidson, Northern Kentucky, Wisconsin, Youngstown State, Milwaukee, IUPUI, Fort Wayne, Oakland, Cleveland State, and Wright State in their next 12 outings before beating Northern Kentucky and Green Bay. The next three games were all losses to Robert Morris, Youngstown State, and Oakland though, giving Detroit an 8-19 record across the first 27 games of the season.
In their Wednesday matchup with IUPUI, Detroit was down by three points 34-31 going into the second half. The Titans didn’t end up getting any closer than that, getting outscored 46-40 the rest of the way during an 80-71 defeat. Leading the team in scoring was Orlando Lovejoy with 22 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and a steal. TJ Nadeau added 16 points with three rebounds and one steal, while Nate Johnson was also in double-figures with 13 points, five rebounds, and one assist. Mak Manciel added seven points and two assists from the bench.
Why the Detroit Mercy Titans will win
- Cleveland State has lost seven of its last eight night games at Calihan Hall against non-AP-ranked opponents.
- The home team has won seven of the last eight games between Cleveland State and Detroit Mercy.
- Detroit Mercy has won the first half in three of its last four night games against Cleveland State at Calihan Hall.
Why the Cleveland State Vikings will win
- Cleveland State has won each of its last eight Friday night games against the Horizon League.
- Detroit Mercy has lost 34 of its last 39 games against the Horizon League.
- Detroit Mercy has lost the first half in 16 of its last 19 games against the Horizon League at Calihan Hall.
Cleveland State vs Detroit Prediction
I’ll stick with Cleveland State. The Vikings need to show some life here after a rough loss at home to a pretty good Youngstown State team, though. Cleveland State shot just 35.5 percent from the field in that one and got outmuscled on the boards 38-32. The 3-of-20 (15 percent) from 3-point range didn’t help, either. That makes consecutive losses for the Vikings, with a combined 119 points scored in that pair.
These teams last saw each other on January 22 at Wolstein Center in a 65-50 Vikings victory. Neither team shot well in that one (both below 40.5 percent) and there were 25 total turnovers (15 from Detroit). We may be in for another ugly outing here in the rematch, but Cleveland State should be in control at home.