La Salle vs. Saint Joseph’s Pick – Basketball Predictions & Odds 1/16/23

The Saint Joseph’s Hawks and the La Salle Explorers meet in college basketball action from the Tom Gola Arena on Monday.

The Saint Joseph’s Hawks will try to build on an 86-55 win over Loyola-Chicago last time out. Erik Reynolds II leads the Hawks in scoring with 17.2 PPG while Cameron Brown has 13.6 PPG with 6 RPG this season to cap off the pair of double-digit scorers for Saint Joseph’s up to this point in the season. Lynn Greer III has 9.2 PPG with a team-high 4.4 APG to lead the Hawks in assists this year. As a team, Saint Joseph’s is averaging 71.1 PPG on 41.6% shooting from the field, 33.8% from three and 68.8% from the foul line this season.

The La Salle Explorers will try to rebound from a 68-64 loss to Fordham last time out. Khalil Brantley leads the Explorers in scoring and assists with 14.9 PPG and 4 APG while Josh Nickleberry has 10.8 PPG and 3.2 RPG and Jhamir Brickus has 10 PPG to round out the group of  double-digit scorers for La Salle up to this point in the year. Fousseyni Drame also has a team-high 5.1 RPG to lead the Explorers on the glass this season. As a team, La Salle is averaging 69 PPG on 42.9% shooting from the field, 33.3% from three point range and 68.8% from the foul line this season.

Saint Joseph’s is 1-5-1 ATS in their last 7 road games and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games following an ATS win while the under is 5-1 in their last 6 road games against a team with a winning home record. La Salle is 3-1-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall and 2-5 ATS in their last 7 home games while the over is 9-4 in their last 13 games against a team with a losing record.

I could make a case to back or fade either side here, but I’m looking at the under here. It’s been the dominant trend head-to-head, coming through in each of the last four meetings, and the reality is I don’t trust either offense to do enough to push us over the number. I think this one’s going to be a 40-minute slopfest, so give me the under here.