Rhode Island vs La Salle 1/19/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The La Salle Explorers will travel to the Ryan Center to take on the Rhode Island Rams this Wednesday night in College Basketball action.

The La Salle Explorers snapped a 4-game losing streak and improved to 6-8 on the season after defeating the Saint Joseph’s Hawks, 75-64, this past Monday. La Salle trailed by a 33-24 margin at halftime, however, the Explorers were outstanding offensively against Saint Joseph’s and the Explorers were able to pull away after taking a 62-51 lead with 3:57 left in regulation. La Salle shot 39.7% from the field & 36.8% from beyond the arc while allowing Saint Joseph’s to shoot 36.1% from the field & 39.3% from beyond the arc. Leading the way for the Explorers was Jack Clark who had 21 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, & 1 steal per game.

On the season, La Salle is averaging 70.2 ppg on 41.4% shooting from the field. The Explorers are averaging 8.0 three-pointers per game on 33.1% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, La Salle has been led by Josh Nickelberry (12.8 ppg, 2.8 rpg), Clifton Moore (11.9 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 1.1 apg, 2.7 bpg), Jack Clark (9.4 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.2 apg), & Christian Ray (5.2 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 1.9 apg).

Defensively, La Salle is allowing their opponents to average 72.3 ppg on 42.7% shooting from the field. The Explorers have a rebound margin of 2.5 and a turnover margin of -0.5.

The Rhode Island Rams won their 2^nd straight game and improved to 11-4 on the season after defeating the UMass Minutemen, 81-68, this past Saturday. Rhode Island was outstanding defensively in the 1^st half against UMass and had no trouble picking up the victory after going into halftime with a 43-29 lead. Rhode Island shot 52.5% from the field & 33.3% from beyond the arc while allowing UMass to shoot 35.7% from the field & 54.2% from beyond the arc. Leading the way for the Rams was Makhel Mitchell who had 20 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, & 4 blocks.

On the season, Rhode Island is averaging 71.8 ppg on 49.1% shooting from the field. The Rams are averaging 5.9 three-pointers per game on 37.3% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, Rhode Island has been led by Makhel Mitchell (11.9 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 1.6 apg, 2.7 bpg), Jeremy Sheppard (11.1 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 3.1 apg, 1.5 spg), Makhi Mitchell (9.8 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 1.7 apg), & Ishmael Leggett (8.3 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 2.1 apg, 1.3 spg).

Defensively, Rhode Island is holding their opponents to an average of 63.0 ppg on 37.1% shooting from the field. The Rams have a rebound margin of 3.5 and a turnover margin of -0.6.

The Explorers are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games at Rhode Island & 5-2 ATS in their last 7 January games. The Rams are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games and 5-1 ATS in their last 6 home games.

La Salle has below average on both ends of the court this season and come into this game ranked just 220^th in scoring offense, 295^th in FG%, & 262^nd in scoring defense. Rhode Island has led by their defense which ranks 42^nd in scoring defense, 4^th in defensive FG%, & 5^th in blocks per game and have despite ranking just 180^th in scoring offense, the Rams do rank 16^th in FG%.

Rhode Island is a tough team to play on the road as the Rams can be tough score on, however, I think this is just too many points to pass up on. La Salle has played well over the past week which included an OT loss to a very good St. Bonaventure team & double-digit road win at Saint Joseph’s and as I think they continue their ATS sucess at Rhode Island, I think the play here is to take the Explorers and the points. Good Luck!