Bradley vs Drake Prediction 1/8/25 College Basketball Picks Today

The Drake Bulldogs and the Bradley Braves meet Wednesday in college basketball action from Carver Arena. Here’s a Bradley vs Drake prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Bradley vs Drake pick.

Drake Bulldogs Betting Preview

Drake got their year kicked off on a stellar win streak. That said, the Bulldogs have hit the skids over their last couple of games. Drake opened with a series of 12 straight wins. Those dozen outings were versus York College Nebraska, Stephen F. Austin, Florida Gulf Coast, Miami, Florida Atlantic, Vanderbilt, Georgia Southern, Valparaiso, St. Ambrose, Kansas State, Green Bay, and Belmont in succession. Since then it’s been a pair of losses for Drake, however. The Bulldogs have fallen to UIC and Murray State in consecutive outings for a 12-2 record so far.

Matched up against Murray State in their Sunday game, the Bulldogs came out of the break with a 26-26 tie and high hopes for another victory. The win didn’t come, however, as Drake was outscored the rest of the way 40-33 in an eventual defeat 66-59. Leading the team in scoring among the starters was Bennett Stirtz with 13 points, five boards, four assists, and five steals. Isaia Howard also scored 13 points off the bench, along with six rebounds and three steals to boot. Also in double-figures was Mitch Mascari with 11 points and two assists in 40 minutes of work. Daniel Abreu chipped in six points with two rebounds in 40 minutes as well.

Bradley Braves Betting Preview

Over on the Bradley side, they opened up the season with a sizable win over Southeast Missouri State, then took a loss to Washington State in game two. The Braves would hit a nice win streak over the next seven games, though. Those wins came versus UTSA, Northern Illinois, Texas State, Wright State, Middle Tennessee, Judson University, and Southern Illinois. Following a 10-point loss to Santa Clara, the Braves recovered with wins over San Francisco, Canisius, Valparaiso, Indiana State, and Missouri State in the next five matchups.

Matched up against Missouri State on Saturday, the Braves came out of the first half looking up at a 30-28 edge. Bradley posted a 39-32 edge the rest of the way, eventually posting a 69-60 win in the end. The top in scoring on the team was Christian Davis with 19 points, four rebounds, and three assists. Darius Hannah added 18 points with nine boards and four blocks, while Corey Thomas amassed 11 points and eight rebounds with two blocks over 19 minutes on the floor. Demarion Burch led the bench scorers with six points and two boards.

Why the Bradley Braves will win

• Bradley has won each of its last 17 night games against the Missouri Valley Conference at Carver Arena.
• Drake has lost three of its last four games at Carver Arena.
• Bradley has won the first half in nine of its last 10 games at Carver Arena against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Why the Drake Bulldogs will win

• Drake has won each of its last 11 night games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Drake has won the first half in 10 of its last 11 games against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Bradley vs Drake Prediction

I’ll take Bradley in this one. You could certainly make a case either way, though; we should have a pretty fun matchup in store here. The Braves took a while to get going against Missouri State in their last game but eventually posted a pretty nice effort. Bradley notched 48.9 percent shooting in that one with a great 18-of-20 (90 percent) from the line and a 37-32 rebounding edge. The 16 turnovers for 15 Bears points were just about the only blemish on the card for the Braves. During this five-game win streak Bradley has 69 or more points in four outings (minus a 66-point total versus San Francisco), but to be fair there were a couple of overtime games mixed in there. Still, the Braves have been scoring quite well this season overall.

As for Drake, they could use a good performance—and ideally, a win—in this one following a couple of limp defeats. Drake gave up 55 percent shooting to Murray State in their last game with a 29-21 rebounding deficit and scored fewer than 60 points for the first time this season. That makes fewer than 66 points in two of the last three games, so the Bulldogs will be looking to assert themselves on the scoreboard early Wednesday. I don’t think they’ll quite get there, however.