American University Eagles vs Drexel Dragons Prediction, Odds, Best Bets - Week 2

Madden Collins is scoring 21.5 points a game for winless American, while Drexel leans on LaDricus Pittman to score and create at home in Philadelphia. A total of 141.5 and a short home line point to a close, messy game.

The Matchup

American University visits Drexel on Wednesday at Daskalakis Athletic Center in Philadelphia, on FloSports, with Drexel a 1.5-point favorite, a total of 141.5, and the Dragons priced at -122 on the moneyline against the Eagles at +102. The tip is at 6:00 PM CT. Both teams have defended poorly in the opening games, so this short line will likely be settled by which offense is better organized late.

American University is 0-2 in the Patriot League, scoring 63.0 points a game and allowing 80.5 in the 2026-27 season. Madden Collins leads the Eagles at 21.5 points a game and 2.0 assists a game, carrying the scoring by a huge margin, and Julen Iturbe leads them at 7.5 rebounds a game. Drexel is 1-1 in the Coastal Athletic Association, scoring 68.5 points a game and allowing 81.5. LaDricus Pittman leads the Dragons at 12.0 points and 5.0 assists a game, leading the team in scoring and creating at once, and David Simonovic leads them at 5.5 rebounds a game.

Both early profiles are a long way from what these programs were last season, in different ways. American went 16-16 in 2025-26, scored 74.6 points a game, and allowed 71.3, a balanced team that defended well enough to finish level.

Scoring 63.0 and allowing 80.5 through two games this season is a break at both ends, and an offense built so heavily around Collins, whose 21.5 a game dwarfs the team's 63.0 total output share, looks fragile when he sits or struggles. Drexel went 17-16 last season, scored 68.1, and allowed 67.3, so a team that defended at that level allowing 81.5 a game early is the Dragons' own warning sign, even if their scoring at 68.5 matches last season's rate almost exactly.

Key Factors

Pittman against Collins is really a question about how each offense is built. Collins is the best scorer in this game at 21.5 points a game, but his 2.0 assists a game say American creates very little beyond him, while Pittman at 12.0 points and 5.0 assists a game gives Drexel a guard who scores and sets up teammates in the same possession. Against two defenses allowing more than eighty points a game, the offense that can involve more players is the one more likely to find a good shot when the game tightens in the final minutes.

Iturbe is American's clearest edge, at 7.5 rebounds a game against Simonovic at 5.5, and the Eagles need that edge to matter. Extra possessions are how a road underdog that scores 63.0 a game stays level with a home team, and second chances also slow Drexel's Pittman-led offense by keeping the Dragons in the half court. The total of 141.5 sits below both teams' combined defensive generosity, which suggests a slower, messier game than the allowed numbers alone would produce, and messy close games reward the home team with the steadier ball handler.

The honest counterpoint is simple: Collins might just be the best player on the floor by enough to decide it himself. At 21.5 points a game he nearly doubles Pittman as a scorer, Drexel allows 81.5 a game after allowing 67.3 across a full season last winter, and a defense that has slipped that far is exactly the kind a dominant guard feasts on. If Collins gets to his spots early and Iturbe turns the glass into a steady supply of extra chances, American wins this game outright and the short home line never matters.

Every pick is published with its line before the game. Odds via consensus sportsbooks at time of writing and move constantly. Must be 21+. If gambling is a problem, call or text 1-800-GAMBLER.