College Basketball Picks

Saint Louis vs Murray State 11/7/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

Murray State Racers (0-0) vs. Saint Louis Billikens (0-0)
November 7, 2022 8:00 pm EDT
The Line: Saint Louis Billikens -13 / Murray State Racers +13; Over/Under: +143
(Get latest betting odds)

The Murray State Racers and the Saint Louis Billikens meet in college basketball action from Chaifetz Arena on Monday.

The Murray State Racers will look to carry over their success from the OVC to their new home in the Missouri Valley after going 31-3 with an 18-0 conference mark in OVC play. The Racers took out Southeast Missouri State and Morehead State on the way to the conference tournament title and the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The Racers took out San Francisco in the first round before falling to tournament Cinderella Saint Peter’s in the second round. New head coach Steve Prohm has some work ahead of him, but the pieces are there. DJ Burns is the lone returning scholarship player, but the Racers still have lots of depth via the transfer portal. JaCobi Wood is a familiar face for Murray State having played the last two years at Belmont, while Jamari Smith, cousin of top-three NBA draft pick and Auburn alum Jabari Smith, transfers in from Queens after averaging 17.6 PPG and 7.1 RPG last season. Rob Perry also transfers in from Stetson after logging 15.9 PPG for the Hatters as well as 5.7 RPG while Quincy Anderson had 17.8 PPG and 6.4 RPG for Minnesota State last year. It’ll just be about getting cohesion on the fly now that the Racers are competing in the “other” valley as part of the MVC. 

The Saint Louis Billikens will be out to take more steps forward after yet another successful season under Travis Ford, finishing 23-12, including a 12-6 mark in A-10 conference play. The Billikens took out La Salle in the second round and St. Bonaventure in the quarterfinals before losing to Davidson in the conference tournament semifinals. The Billikens would get an invite to the NIT, but the stay was short-lived as Northern Iowa took out St. Louis in the first round. The Billikens are saddled with high expectations this year, mainly because all of the top names for Saint Louis are back, led by Gibson Jimerson (16.3 PPG), Yuri Collins (11.1 PPG & team-high 7.9 APG), Francis Okoro (10.9 PPG & 8.1 RPG) and Fred Thatch (9.3 PPG 5.5 RPG). But most importantly the return of their star, Javonte Perkins, from injury after logging 17.1 PPG last time we saw him consistently. The Billikens also brought in Javon Pickett from Missouri after posting 11.1 PPG for Mizzou last year. The pieces are there for Saint Louis to take over the A-10, it’ll just be about execution and staying healthy this time around.

Murray State is 1-5 ATS in their last 6 road games and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games overall while the over is 4-0 in their last 4 games overall. Saint Louis is 3-1-1 ATS in their last 5 home games and 5-2-1 ATS in their last 8 games overall while the under is 7-2 in their last 9 Monday games.

These are two teams I’m definitely going to be keeping my eye on over the course of the season, but I’m still looking at Saint Louis here. Both teams have a lot of firepower, but the Billikens have the advantage in the sense that their guys have played together for a while now, and that’ll only improve with the return of Javonte Perkins. This Billikens team is loaded and will have a great chance to take over the conference this year. Give me Saint Louis in a statement performance to start the year.

Chris Ruffolo's Free Pick: Saint Louis -13

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Chris Ruffolo

Chris joined the Sports Chat Place team in August 2016 and has a proven system that combines multiple analytical and situational statistics and trends to give out thousands of winning picks over the last three years with winning records across all of the top leagues, Follow Chris Ruffolo on Twitter @ruffthepickdawg

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