The La Salle Explorers and the Davidson Wildcats meet Saturday in college basketball action from Belk Arena. La Salle is 6-11 on the year and coming off a loss to UMass. As for Davidson, they’re 16-3 this year. The Wildcats took a loss to VCU in their last game. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
La Salle started out the year at 5-4 through their first nine games, but things haven’t gone so well since. The Explorers are 1-7 in their last eight, falling to Bucknell, Fordham, VCU, St. Bonaventure, Rhode Island, Richmond and UMass in that time.
In the UMass game on Wednesday, La Salle posted a 42-32 edge in the first half. The Explorers faded on a 45-29 deficit from there and ended up with a 77-71 defeat. Josh Nickelberry was the top scorer for the team on 18 points and four rebounds.
Over on the Davidson side, they stumbled to a 1-2 start over their first three games this year. The Wildcats then went on a 15-game win streak to move to 16-2. On Wednesday versus VCU, Davidson’s streak snapped with a tough defeat.
In the VCU game, the Wildcats coughed up a 37-29 deficit by halftime. Davidson fought back after the break but ended up with a 70-68 defeat. Luka Brajkovic was the team’s top scorer on 23 points, 12 rebounds and two assists.
The Wildcats are 11-4 ATS in their last 15 overall and the under is 7-2 in their last nine after an ATS loss. The under is 18-6 in Davidson’s last 24 Saturday games.
Meanwhile, the Explorers are 2-8 ATS in their last 10 Saturday games and 2-5 ATS in their last seven after an ATS loss. The over is 4-1 in La Salle’s last five Saturday games.
PICK: I’m going to try Davidson here. The Wildcats had been playing with fire in some close games during their win streak, and their luck finally ran out versus VCU. Davidson shot a reasonable 43.2 percent from the field with a 35-24 rebounding edge in the loss, but also hit just 3-of-14 (21.4 percent) from 3-point range with 15 turnovers and only seven team assists.
Davidson is going to need to regroup and get back to business in this one, and I think they’ll be able to pull off a bounce-back cover. The line is a little thick, but I think the Wildcats can get there.