Youngstown State vs IPFW Prediction 3/6/25 College Basketball Picks Today

The Fort Wayne Mastodons and the Youngstown State Penguins meet Thursday in Horizon League Tournament college basketball action from Beeghly Center. Here’s a Youngstown State vs IPFW Prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Youngstown State vs IPFW pick.

Fort Wayne Mastodons Betting Preview

Fort Wayne has had a spotty run or three this season, but overall they’re doing fairly well and are several games above the .500 mark. The Mastodons opened up on a 5-4 run over their first nine, losing to UCF, Penn State, Radford and Detroit. Wins over Robert Morris, IUPUI, Eastern Michigan and Defiance came next, then losses to Michigan and Northern Kentucky in the next trio. An 8-2 run came next with losses to Oakland and Cleveland State among wins over Youngstown State, Milwaukee, Detroit, Wright State, IUPUI, Milwaukee, Wright State and Green Bay. Since then however, it’s been a 1-4 run with a lone win over Oakland amid losses to Youngstown State, Robert Morris, Northern Kentucky and Cleveland State. That gives the Mastodons a 19-12 overall run through 31 games so far this year.

In the Cleveland State matchup on Saturday, the Mastodons held a 31-24 halftime deficit. Fort Wayne didn’t get any closer than that in a 37-33 second half and lost the game 68-57 in the end. Leading the team in scoring was Rasheed Bello with 20 points, two assists and one rebound. Quinton Morton-Robertson added 12 points with four rebounds, three assists and two steals, while Eric Mulder also reached double-figures on 10 points with seven boards and three steals in 26 minutes of work on the floor. 

Youngstown State Penguins Betting Preview

Over on the Youngstown State side, they’ve got a couple of spotty runs in the books themselves but overall they’re doing okay. The Penguins hit a 2-5 stretch in their first seven before wins over Bethany WV, Robert Morris, Oakland, Toledo, Wright State, USC Upstate, Detroit and IUPUI. A 4-5 run came next with losses to Fort Wayne, Cleveland State, Milwaukee, Robert Morris and IUPUI among wins over Northern Kentucky, Green Bay, Penn State-Shenango and Wright State. Since then it’s been a 5-2 run with losses to Milwaukee and Northern Kentucky among wins over Oakland, Detroit, Fort Wayne, Cleveland State and Green Bay. That gives the Penguins an overall record of 19-12 as well in their first 31 outings.

Matched up against Northern Kentucky in the road rematch over the weekend, the Penguins held a 43-35 deficit at the break. Youngstown State didn’t gain any ground from there on a 45-44 run and took the loss 88-79 in the end. Leading the team in scoring was Juwan Maxey with 26 points, one rebound and one assist. Ty Harper wasn’t far behind on his 21 points, three rebounds and five assists in 28 minutes, while Cris Carroll added 14 points with two rebounds, two assists and two steals in 21 minutes of action on the court.

Youngstown State vs IPFW Prediction

I’ll stick with Youngstown State, but this should be a pretty good matchup regardless. The Penguins do need a bounce-back effort here after a loss to a middling Northern Kentucky team, though. Youngstown State posted a 32-24 rebounding deficit and 11 turnovers for 17 Norse points alongside 51.7 percent shooting allowed in that defeat. The Penguins have lost two of their last three games, but they’ve scored 74 or more points in all three of those as well.

These teams split the season series, with the Mastodons winning at home 90-81 on January 4 and the Penguins taking it 93-71 at home on February 12. In that Beeghly Center game Youngstown State caught fire late and ended up hitting 50 percent from the field with a 39-30 rebounding edge. I’d like to see a faster start from the Penguins this time, but they should have a pretty good shot in game three.