Drake vs Southern Illinois 3/4/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Southern Illinois Salukis and the Drake Bulldogs meet Friday in Missouri Valley Tournament college basketball action from Enterprise Center. Southern Illinois enters this matchup at 16-14 overall. The Salukis lost to Drake in their last game. As for the Bulldogs, they’re 22-9 on the year thanks to the win over Southern Illinois last weekend. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place. 

Southern Illinois has had their ups and downs this season, including a rough 3-8 run in January/February. Since then the Salukis have beaten Evansville, Bradley, Indiana State and Illinois State in succession before the Drake loss. 

In the matchup versus the Bulldogs last weekend, the Salukis scored just 20 points in the first half. Southern Illinois woke up with 40 points from there but still lost 62-60. Marcus Domask was the lead scorer with 21 points and five rebounds. 

Over on the Drake side, they’ve had a couple of three-game losing streaks this year but otherwise have remained very consistent in the win column. The Bulldogs are on a five-game win streak over Evansville, Loyola, Indiana State, Valparaiso and Southern Illinois right now. 

Last weekend versus the Salukis, Drake took advantage in the first half with a nice 34-20 lead. The Bulldogs were outscored 28-40 from there but hung on for the tense win. Tremell Murphy was tops on the team with 14 points and three boards. 

The Bulldogs are 0-7-1 ATS in their last eight neutral-site games and 4-1 ATS in their last five Friday games. Drake is 9-23-1 ATS in the last 33 overall. 

Meanwhile, the Salukis are 8-3 ATS in their last 11 after an ATS win and 7-2 ATS in their last five Friday games. Southern Illinois is 4-0 ATS in the last four overall. 

PICK: I’m going to stay with Drake here. The Bulldogs are on a nice run over this five-game win streak; they’ve hit 71 or more points in four of those games. Drake was able to win both matchups between these teams so far this year: 60-59 on the road January 17 and 62-60 at home on February 26. By all indications this one will be a tight game as well. I like Drake on the potential cover, but I’m probably not touching it. Should be a fun game to watch, though.