
Milwaukee vs Youngstown State Prediction 1/17/25 College Basketball Picks Today
Youngstown State (11-7) vs. Milwaukee (12-6)
January 17, 2025 8:00 pm EDT
The Line: Milwaukee -4.5; Over/Under: 143.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Youngstown State Penguins and the Milwaukee Panthers meet Friday in college basketball action from UWM Panther Arena. Here’s a Milwaukee vs Youngstown State prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Milwaukee vs Youngstown State pick.
Youngstown State Penguins Betting Preview
The Penguins kicked off the 2024-25 season with a pretty ugly run, but to their credit, they’ve been able to right the proverbial ship since late November. Youngstown State went just 2-5 over their first seven outings, beating only Chicago State and Monmouth among losses to Ohio State, Syracuse, Presbyterian, Stephen F. Austin, and Western Michigan. A winning streak ensued after that for the Penguins as they took out Bethany WV, Robert Morris, Oakland, Toledo, Wright State, South Carolina Upstate, Detroit, and IUPUI in that time. Since then it’s been a 1-2 run, however. Youngstown State has a lone win over Northern Kentucky in those games, sandwiched between losses to Fort Wayne and Cleveland State for an 11-7 record.
Over the weekend in the Cleveland State game, the Penguins came out of the locker room looking up at a 37-31 deficit on the scoreboard. Youngstown State was outscored 43-41 the rest of the way during an 80-72 loss. Chris Carroll led the team in scoring with 18 points, two rebounds, one assist and one steal. Ty Harper added 16 points with eight boards, three assists, and a steal, while Jason Nelson chipped in 10 points, four rebounds, and four assists. Siem Uijtendaal was the high man off the bench with his nine points, two assists, and one steal.
Milwaukee Panthers Betting Preview
Over on the Milwaukee side, they’ve only had two or three very brief rough spots so far this year; otherwise, it’s been quite a consistent run. The Panthers went just 1-2 out of the gate with a win over Lakeland ahead of losses to Northern Iowa and Longwood. After wins versus Duquesne, Portland State, Wofford, and St. Thomas Minnesota, the Panthers lost to UCF and Southern Miss. Victories over Cleveland State, Green Bay, Akron, North Central College and IUPUI followed, then came a 2-2 run. The wins in that time were over Detroit and Green Bay. Otherwise, it was losses to Oakland and Fort Wayne, resulting in a 12-6 overall record so far.
Matched up against Green Bay on Saturday, the Panthers held a 36-24 edge by the break. Milwaukee lost a bit of steam in the second with a 35-34 deficit but still won easily 70-59 in the end. Themus Fulks was the top team scorer with 14 points, six rebounds, and five assists. Kentrell Pullian managed to double up on 13 points and 10 boards with one steal, and John Lovelace had 10 points with one steal. Erik Pratt came off the bench for 10 points as well.
Why the Milwaukee Panthers will win
- Milwaukee has won each of its last seven games at UW–UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.
- Youngstown State has lost the first half in seven of its last eight night games at UW–UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.
Why the Youngstown State Penguins will win
- Youngstown State has won seven of its last eight games against Milwaukee.
- Milwaukee has lost three of its last four night games following a home win.
- Youngstown State has won the first half in 16 of its last 20 road games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
Milwaukee vs Youngstown State Prediction
I’ll just stay with Milwaukee here. The Panthers didn’t have a ton of issues against a struggling Green Bay team in their latest win, shooting 43.8 percent from the field with a 33-28 rebounding edge and 23-of-30 (76.7 percent) from the line. Milwaukee kept the Phoenix honest from outside (21.7 percent) and scored 10 points off 15 Green Bay turnovers. It was a nice bounce-back performance after a five-point loss to Fort Wayne in their previous game—part of a rough 1-2 road trip that dated back to the beginning of the calendar year.
As for Youngstown State, they shot a tepid 40 percent from the floor with a 32-28 rebounding deficit and 13 turnovers for 20 Vikings points in their latest loss to Cleveland State. The Penguins have lost two of the last three games, but they’re still scoring well with 72 or more points in eight straight outings (a 6-2 run). This one should be a pretty darn good matchup overall, but in the end, I like Milwaukee to power it out.