College Basketball Picks

NC State vs SMU Prediction 1/25/25 College Basketball Picks Today

SMU (14-5) vs. NC State (9-9)
January 25, 2025 12:00 pm EDT
The Line: NC State +3; Over/Under: 145
(Get latest betting odds)

The SMU Mustangs and the NC State Wolfpack meet Saturday in college basketball action from the Lenovo Center. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s an NC State vs SMU Prediction.

SMU Recap

The SMU Mustangs come into this game looking to bounce back from a 98-73 loss at home to Louisville last time out to fall to 14-5 on the year. After this game, SMU will head home for a matchup with Cal.


Mustangs Looking To Rebound

Boopie Miller leads the Mustangs in scoring and assists with 14.3 PPG and 5.7 APG while Chuck Harris has 12.2 PPG and Matt Cross has 11 PPG with a team-high 8 RPG to lead the Mustangs on the glass up to this point in the year. B.J. Edwards has 10.7 PPG with 3.7 RPG and 3.4 APG along with 2.4 SPG as well on the year to cap off the scoring in double figures for SMU so far this season. Samet Yigitoglu has 9.7 PPG with 6.5 RPG and Yohan Traore has 7.9 PPG with 4.3 RPG while Karlo Oquendo has 9.6 PPG with 2.8 RPG. As a team, SMU is averaging 84.2 PPG on 48.2% shooting from the field, 38.3% from three and 73.2% from the foul line this season.

Why the SMU Mustangs will win

  • SMU has won each of its last six day games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
  • NC State has lost five of its last six games.

NC State Recap

The NC State Wolfpack enter this game looking to rebound after another close loss, this one coming against Cal by a final score of 65-62. After this game, NC State will head on the road for a headline road game against Duke.

Wolfpack Lose Third Straight One Possession Game

Marcus Hill leads the Wolfpack in scoring with 13.2 PPG and 4 RPG while Jayden Taylor has 12.8 PPG as the lone pair of double-digit scorers for NC State so far this season. Ben Middlebrooks has 9.5 PPG with 4.6 RPG and Dontrez Styles has 8.9 PPG with 4.5 RPG while Brandon Huntley-Hatfield has 8.5 PPG with a team-high 5.1 RPG to lead the Wolfpack in rebounding so far this season. Michael O’Connell also has 6.6 PPG with 2.7 RPG and a team-high 3.6 APG to lead NC State in the assist department so far this season. As a team, NC State is averaging 71.5 PPG on 45.3% shooting from the field, 31.5% from behind the arc and 70.4% from the foul line this season.

Why the NC State Wolfpack will win

  • NC State has won 10 of its last 11 games at Lenovo Center when playing with a rest advantage.

Total Points Facts

  • Seven of SMU’s last eight games have produced a total of 149+ points.
  • Five of NC State’s last six games against Conference opponents have produced a total of 137 or fewer points.

NC State vs SMU Prediction

I’m on SMU here. I know it could be tempting to take the free bucket with NC State as a home dog considering the close losses they’ve taken as of late, but the Mustangs are still the better team here and at a certain point, you have to wonder how many of those close losses NC State can endure before it really affects their performance. SMU is the better team by a fair margin here and I think the Mustangs take out the Wolfpack here. Give me SMU.

Chris Ruffolo's Free Pick: SMU -3

Need More? Get Premium Picks

Chris Ruffolo

Chris joined the Sports Chat Place team in August 2016 and has a proven system that combines multiple analytical and situational statistics and trends to give out thousands of winning picks over the last three years with winning records across all of the top leagues, Follow Chris Ruffolo on Twitter @ruffthepickdawg

Related Articles

Back to top button