Nicholls State vs UT Rio Grande Valley Prediction 1/27/25 College Basketball Picks

The Nicholls Colonels and the UTRGV Vaqueros meet Monday in college basketball action from the McDermott Convention Center. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Nicholls vs. UTRGV Prediction.

Nicholls Recap

The Nicholls Colonels come into this game looking to bounce back from a 61-57 loss to Texas A&M-CC last time out to fall to 11-9 on the year. After this game, Nicholls will head home to take on McNeese.

Colonels Drop Back-To-Back Games

Byron Ireland leads the Colonels in scoring and assists with 13.3 PPG and 3.1 APG along with 3.5 RPG while Robert Brown III has 12.2 PPG and Jamal West Jr. has 11.3 PPG with 5.9 RPG, rounding out the trio of double-digit scorers for Nicholls up to this point in the year. Michael Gray Jr. has 9.1 PPG, Ike Cornish has 7.7 PPG and Mekhi Collins has a team-high 6.1 RPG to lead Nicholls in rebounding up to this point in the season. As a team, Nicholls is averaging 73.8 PPG on 42.6% shooting from the field, 32.9% from three, and 68.6% from the foul line this season.

Why the Nicholls State Colonels will win

• Nicholls State has won each of its last 10 night games against the Southland Conference.

UTRGV Recap

The UTRGV Vaqueros come into this game looking to bounce back from a 93-63 loss to McNeese last time out to fall to 12-8 on the year. After this game, UTRGV will face Texas A&M-CC and Northwestern State.

Vaqueros Looking To Rebound

Hasan Abdul Hakim leads the Vaqueros in scoring with 13.3 PPG along with 6.8 RPG and 2.9 APG in 12 games played so far this season while Cliff Davis has 12 PPG with 4.6 RPG. K.T. Raimey has 11.1 PPG and DK Thorn’s added 11.1 PPG with 3.4 RPG to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for UTRGV so far this season. Howie Fleming Jr. has 9.9 PPG with a team-high 6.9 RPG to lead the Vaqueros on the glass while Trey Miller has 9.8 PPG with 2.5 RPG and a team-high 4.1 APG to lead UTRGV in assists so far this season. As a team, UTRGV is averaging 78.2 PPG on 45.1% shooting from the field, 31.9% from behind the arc, and 67.8% from the foul line this season.

Why the Texas-Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros will win

• Texas–Rio Grande Valley has won each of its last six night games at UTRGV Fieldhouse.

Total Points Facts

• Eight of Texas–Rio Grande Valley’s last 10 night games against the Southland Conference have produced a total of 150+ points.
• Seven of Nicholls State’s last nine night games against non-AP-ranked opponents have produced a total of 144 or fewer points.

Nicholls vs. UTRGV Prediction

I’m on the Colonels here. I think UTRGV has been a nice team to provide value in some spots this season, but this is a UTRGV team that lives and dies by the three they’re only shooting 28% from three in conference play and Nicholls has the 3rd-best 3-point defense in the conference this season. The Colonels have a balanced offense that can hurt this UTRGV defense in a bunch of different ways and I think the Colonels get the job done here. Give me Nicholls in this one.