Tarleton vs Grand Canyon Prediction 1/18/25 College Basketball Picks

The Tarleton State Texans and the Grand Canyon Antelopes meet Saturday in college basketball action from GCU Arena. Here’s a Tarleton State vs Grand Canyon prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Tarleton State vs Grand Canyon pick. We will examine:

The Tarleton State Texans’ recent form and player performance

The Grand Canyon Antelopes’ recent form and player performance

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Tarleton State Texans

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Grand Canyon Antelopes

Recent betting trends in games played between Tarleton State and Grand Canyon

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Tarleton State vs Grand Canyon game

Tarleton State Texans Betting Preview

Tarleton State kicked off the year on a rough run over their first 13 games. That said, the Texans have looked significantly better since late December. The only wins for Tarleton State over those opening 13 outings were over Tabor, Hofstra, and Dallas Christian. Otherwise, it was losses to SMU, Sam Houston, Florida State, Baylor, Michigan, Iona, Indiana State, UCF, UTEP, and Oklahoma State. Since then it’s been a 4-1 stretch, though. The Texans lost to Utah Tech in that span but otherwise took out Howard Payne, Florida A&M, Texas Arlington, Southern Utah, and Cal Baptist for an 8-11 overall run through the first 19 games of the year.

In the Cal Baptist matchup on Thursday, the Texans came out of halftime looking up at a 31-20 edge on the scoreboard. Tarleton State kept the pace quite well from there, notching another 36 points on the way to a 67-57 win. Leading the team in the victory was Freddy Hicks, who notched 15 points, three assists and two rebounds off the bench. Dantwan Grimes put up 13 points with three assists and two rebounds in his bench performance, while Chris Mpaka led the starters on 11 points and five boards in 15 minutes of action on the court.

Grand Canyon Antelopes Betting Preview

Over on the Grand Canyon side, they opened up their campaign with a spotty stretch, but likewise have done better over the last month or so. The Antelopes lost to Arizona State, UC Davis, Georgia, and Louisiana Tech in their first 10 games with wins over CSU Fullerton, Western Kentucky, Norfolk State, Stanford, Hawaii, and Life Pacific otherwise. The Lopes are 6-1 in their last seven games with a lone loss to Utah Valley mixed among wins versus Chicago State, Saint Louis, San Diego, Bryant, Southern Utah, and Abilene Christian for a 12-5 overall run through the first 17 games of the year.

Matched up against the Wildcats in Thursday’s outing, the Antelopes didn’t have too many issues. GCU hit a 38-21 run in the first half and finished off on a 50-37 stretch for an 88-58 blowout victory. Duke Brennan led the way, doubling up on 16 points and 10 rebounds. Ray Harrison added 14 points with three assists and two steals, while Tyon Grant-Foster came off the bench for 13 points, six boards, three steals and two assists in 24 minutes total.

Why the Grand Canyon Antelopes will win

• Grand Canyon has won each of its last 12 night games against the Western Athletic Conference at Global Credit Union Arena at GCU.

Why the Tarleton State Texans will win

• Tarleton State has won eight of its last nine road games against Conference opponents.

Tarleton State vs Grand Canyon Prediction

I’ll stick with Grand Canyon. The Lopes are looking pretty good these days, and they’re coming off a dominant effort against a middling Abilene Christian team. GCU posted a nice 53.6 percent shooting from the field in that one along with a 38-35 rebounding edge. The foul shooting (20-of-30) could have been better, though. That makes 68 or more points in six of the last seven games (all six were wins) for the Lopes, who should notch a nice total here as well. As for Tarleton State, they’re scoring pretty well themselves lately with 70 or more points in four of the last six games (a 5-1 run). The Texans will have their hands full in a tough road game on Saturday though, and I don’t quite think they’ll keep pace with the Lopes.

Andrew Jett's Pick: Grand Canyon Antelopes -14.5