UIC vs Drake Prediction 2/19/25 College Basketball Picks

The UIC Flames and the Drake Bulldogs meet Wednesday in college basketball action from Knapp Center. Here’s a UIC vs Drake prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best UIC vs Drake pick. We will examine: 

The UIC Flames’ recent form and player performance

The Drake Bulldogs’ recent form and player performance 

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the UIC Flames

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Drake Bulldogs

Recent betting trends in games played between UIC and Drake

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the UIC vs Drake game

UIC Flames Betting Preview

UIC has been a fairly steady team for most of the season, but they’ve been struggling lately. The Flames went 4-4 in their first eight games, taking losses to Northwestern, James Madison, East Carolina, and Northern Iowa. After a winning streak over Dartmouth, Little Rock, Seattle U, Illinois State, and Drake, the Flames fell to Belmont and Bradley in their next pair before wins versus Murray State, Valparaiso, Evansville, and Bradley in the next five outings. Since then it’s been a 1-4 run with a lone win over Missouri State after losses to Indiana State, Illinois State, Southern Illinois, and Murray State during that time. Overall this year that gives the Flames a 15-11 record through their first 26 outings. 

On Sunday versus Missouri State, the Flames were up by five points going into the second half. UIC kept the pace from there and took the eventual victory 63-58 after 28 second-half points. Javon Jackson was the leading team scorer with 16 points with three rebounds, two assists, and three steals. Modestas Kancleris added 13 points with eight rebounds and three blocks as the lead bench scorer, and Sasa Ciani had 10 points with six boards in 23 minutes. 

Drake Bulldogs Betting Preview

Over on the Drake side, they’ve been one of the more consistent teams in the nation this year. The Bulldogs have only one instance of consecutive losses way back in early January, and just three losses in total. Drake rolled through a dozen straight victories to start things off before falling to UIC and Murray State in succession. The Bulldogs were able to post another win streak over Bradley, Evansville, Illinois State, Indiana State, Valparaiso, Missouri State, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois, Murray State, Indiana State, and Illinois State in succession after that. Drake’s latest outing was a loss to Bradley however, giving the Bulldogs a 23-3 overall run across their first 26 games of the 2024-25 campaign. 

Matched up against Bradley on Sunday, the Bulldogs held a 31-30 deficit by the break. Drake didn’t end up getting any closer in the end, falling further behind in a 30-29 second half for a tough home loss 61-59. Tops in scoring during the defeat was Daniel Abreu with 16 points and three rebounds. Mitch Mascari added 14 points with two rebounds and one steal. Kael Combs came off the bench for 11 points and three rebounds with two assists. 

UIC vs Drake Prediction 

I’m going to stay with Drake. The Bulldogs need a big bounce-back effort following their loss to Bradley, though. Drake gave up 53.5 percent shooting in that one along with 13 turnovers for 16 Braves points. The 14-of-22 (63.6 percent) from the line in the two-point loss didn’t help, either. Drake has been below 60 points in two of the last four games, so it’d be nice to see them score well on Wednesday. 

The Bulldogs lost 74-70 the last time these teams saw each other back on New Year’s Day. Drake gave up 57.4 percent shooting with 12 turnovers in that road defeat, so there’s plenty of room for improvement in the rematch. I think the Bulldogs will get some revenge here. It should be a fun matchup regardless, though.