Indiana State vs Valparaiso 1/22/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Valparaiso Beacons and the Indiana State Sycamores meet in college basketball action from the Hulman Center on Saturday afternoon.

The Valparaiso Beacons come into this one looking to build on their 83-80 OT win over Northern Iowa last time out. Kobe King’s tallied 14.5 PPG in ten games while Ben Krikke has 13.8 PPG in 16 games for the Beacons this season. Sheldon Edwards has 11.6 PPG and Trevor Anderson’s got 10.1 PPG with a team-high 2.6 APG to lead Valpo in assists. Thomas Kithier has 9.9 PPG with a team-high 6.9 RPG and Kevion Taylor’s also adding 11.3 PPG to make up the group of double-digit scorers for Valparaiso this season. As a team, Valparaiso is averaging 72.8 PPG on 46.9% shooting from the field, 34.6% from three and 74.3% from the foul line while allowing 70 PPG on 44.6% shooting from the field and 35.5% from three this season.

The Indiana State Sycamores will try to snap a three-game losing streak after a 63-55 loss to Southern Illinois last time out. Cooper Neese leads the Sycamores in scoring with 14.7 PPG while Cameron Henry has 14.4 PPG while posting team-highs of 5.9 RPG and 2.9 APG to lead Indiana State in rebounding and assists. Micah Thomas has 11.8 PPG and Xavier Bledson has 12 PPG with 4.6 RPG to make up the group of double-digit scorers for the Sycamores so far this season. As a team, Indiana State is averaging 73.4 PPG on 45.4% shooting from the field, 34.1% from three and 75.5% from the foul line while allowing 70.1 PPG on 43.2% shooting from the field and 35.7% from three this season.

Valparaiso is 0-4 ATS in their last 4 Saturday games and 2-9 ATS in their last 11 games following a win while the under is 13-3 in their last 16 road games against a team with a winning home record. Indiana State is 3-0-1 ATS in their last 4 home games and 7-1 ATS in their last 8 home games against a team with a losing road record while the under is 7-1 in their last 8 Saturday games.

I get why Indiana State is favored at home here, but the bottom line for me is that the Sycamores’ offense has fallen off of a cliff in recent games and I just see nothing that really makes me feel like backing the Sycamores otherwise. Valpo got a solid win over Northern Iowa last time out and while we haven’t seen much of Valparaiso away from home here, I think they can compete and keep this one close. Give me the Beacons and the points.