Butler vs North Dakota State Prediction 12-10-24 College Basketball Picks

The North Dakota State Bison and the Butler Bulldogs meet Tuesday in college basketball action from Hinkle Fieldhouse. Here’s a Butler vs North Dakota State prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Butler vs North Dakota State pick.

North Dakota State Bison Betting Preview

The Bison got off to a rocky 3-4 start this year, taking losses to Illinois State, CSU Bakersfield, Southern Illinois, and Samford. Since then it’s been four straight wins over West Georgia, Utah Valley, Weber State, and Northern Colorado, though.

In the Northern Colorado game on Saturday, the Bison were up by three going into halftime. North Dakota State hit a 45-36 run the rest of the way and took the victory 82-70. Leading team scorer Jacksen Moni put up 18 points with seven rebounds in the win.

Butler Bulldogs Betting Preview

Over on the Butler side, they went 7-1 in their first eight with wins over Missouri State, Western Michigan, SMU, Merrimack, Northwestern, Mississippi State, and Eastern Illinois (and a loss to Austin Peay). Game nine was another loss, this time to Houston.

Matched up against the Cougars on Saturday, the Bulldogs were outscored 28-18 in the first half alone. Butler hit a 51-33 run the rest of the way for a 79-51 blowout loss. Both Augusto Cassia and Patrick McCaffery scored a team-high 11 points each. Butler will meet Wisconsin after this game.

Why the Butler Bulldogs will win

• Butler has won 78 of its last 82 games against non-conference opponents at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
• North Dakota State has lost each of its last eight Tuesday games against non-conference opponents.
• Butler has won the first half in 16 of its last 17 night games against non-conference opponents at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Why the North Dakota State Bison will win

• North Dakota State has won each of its last four games.
• Butler has lost each of its last four night games following a road loss.
• North Dakota State has won the first half in each of its last four games against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Butler vs North Dakota State Prediction

I’ll lean toward Butler. The Bulldogs need a good bounce-back showing after a tough game against Houston, though. Butler shot a dismal 28.3 percent from the field in that one alongside 12 turnovers and a 41-22 rebounding deficit. It was by far the Bulldogs’ lowest-scoring outing of the year (51), but they’ve hit 71 or more points in all seven wins so far.

As for North Dakota State, they handled a middling Northern Colorado team pretty well in their last game thanks to 53.7 percent shooting. The Bison have scored 73 or more points in all four games during this current win streak, so Butler may have to press hard offensively in order to keep a good pace here. In the end, I like the Bulldogs to pull off the cover, but it should be a fun matchup.