New Orleans vs Nicholls State Prediction 2/17/25 College Basketball Picks Today

The Nicholls State Colonels and the New Orleans Privateers meet Monday in college basketball action from Lakefront Arena. Here’s a New Orleans vs Nicholls State Prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best New Orleans vs Nicholls State pick.

Nicholls State Colonels Betting Preview

The Colonels have had some choppy runs in the record column so far this year—as well as a couple of nice stretches. Nicholls State opened on a 2-4 run though, falling to New Mexico, South Alabama, Cincinnati, and Towson in that time. After a winning streak over Mississippi College, Louisiana, Southeastern Louisiana, New Orleans, and Southern-New Orleans, the Colonels fell to Gonzaga, Northwestern State, and McNeese State in the next five games. After wins over Incarnate Word and Stephen F Austin came losses to Lamar and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Nicholls would beat UTRGV, McNeese, Houston Christian, and East Texas A&M in the next quartet before a loss to Northwestern State, giving the Colonels a 15-10 overall run through their first 25 games of the season.

In their weekend match with Southeastern Louisiana, Nicholls State jumped out to a 38-33 halftime edge. The Colonels lost it in the second half, however, and eventually fell 84-81 in overtime during a tough outcome. Robert Brown led the team with 28 points, five rebounds, and three turnovers. Jamal West added 16 points with eight boards and two assists, while Trae English had 12 points with six rebounds and eight assists in 41 minutes of work.

New Orleans Privateers Betting Preview

Over on the New Orleans side, they’ve had a rough campaign this year with only one instance of consecutive wins. The Privateers opened on a 2-4 run with victories over only Lindenwood and Tulane. Losses to Baylor, Nicholls, Iowa, Texas, LSU, McNeese, Vanderbilt, UT Rio Grande Valley, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, and SE Louisiana piled up from there before a pair of wins over Lamar and East Texas A&M. More losses came in the next seven outings versus Northwestern State, Houston Christian, Incarnate Word, SE Louisiana, Stephen F. Austin, Houston Christian and Incarnate Word. That gave the Privateers a rough 4-21 record across their first 25 outings of the 2024-25 campaign.

Matched up against McNeese State on Saturday, the Privateers were pummeled 42-25 in the first half alone. New Orleans got better from there on a 39-36 run but still lost 78-64 in the end. Leland Coleman was the team’s leading scorer with 15 points, five rebounds, and four assists. Both Kohen Rowbatham (four assists) and JR Jacobs (seven rebounds; three assists) chipped in 14 points each, while MJ Thomas had 10 rebounds with nine points and two assists.

Why the New Orleans Privateers will win

• The home team has won six of the last seven games between Nicholls State and New Orleans.
• The home team has won the first half in four of New Orleans’ last five games.

Why the Nicholls State Colonels will win

• New Orleans has lost each of its last 11 games at Lakefront Arena.
• Nicholls State has won 12 of its last 13 night games against the Southland Conference.
• Nicholls State has won the first half in 10 of its last 12 night games against the Southland Conference.

New Orleans vs Nicholls State Prediction

I’ll stick with Nicholls State I suppose. Probably avoiding this one, though. In their Saturday matchup, the Colonels couldn’t quite topple a surging SE Louisiana team, giving up 47.1 percent shooting with 13 turnovers. Nicholls also missed seven of their 18 free throws (61.1 percent) along the way. The good news is that the Colonels are still scoring well, with 71 or more points in five of the last six outings.

These teams last saw each other way back on December 7 in a tight 73-70 home win for the Colonels. Nicholls State didn’t play particularly well in that one, posting 42.4 percent from the field, 20 percent (4-of-20) from the 3-point range, and 61.9 percent (13-of-21) from the line. The 43-37 rebounding advantage was helpful, but the key stat was the 13 Privateers turnovers for 16 Nicholls State points. New Orleans will likely be more comfortable in their home rematch on Monday, so don’t expect so many mistakes from that side. Nicholls State needs a big offensive push in this one, but I think they can pull it off.