La Salle vs UMass Prediction 2/9/25 College Basketball Picks Today
UMass (10-13) vs. La Salle (12-11)
February 9, 2025 2:00 pm EDT
The Line: La Salle PK; Over/Under:
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The UMass Minutemen and the La Salle Explorers meet Sunday in college basketball action from Tom Gola Arena. Here’s a La Salle vs UMass prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best La Salle vs UMass pick.
UMass Minutemen Betting Preview
It’s been quite the rocky season for the Minutemen so far this year, but to be fair they’re playing better lately. UMass beat New Hampshire in their opener, then fell to West Virginia, LA Tech, Hofstra, Temple, and Florida State in the next five. A 4-2 run came next with losses to Central Connecticut and UMass Lowell among wins over Harvard, NJIT, Massachusetts-Boston, and Northeastern, then more losses to Arizona State, Saint Joseph’s, Richmond, and George Mason mixed with a lone win over Dayton. UMass is 4-2 in the last six games with losses to Rhode Island and Saint Louis among wins over Fordham, La Salle, George Washington, and Duquesne. So far that makes a 10-13 overall record through the first 23 games of the year.
In the Saint Louis game on Tuesday, the Minutemen came out of the first half looking up at a manageable 35-33 deficit on the scoreboard. UMass kept the pace from there on a 38-38 run but ended up losing 73-71. Jaylen Curry led the team with 16 points, three rebounds, and two steals. Daniel Rivera managed to double up on 14 points, 14 rebounds, two steals and one assist. Daniel Hankins Sanford came off the bench for 14 points with seven boards and two assists in 27 minutes of work on the floor as well.
La Salle Explorers Betting Preview
Over on the La Salle side, they got off to a pretty good start through November but it’s been a choppy record in the books since then. The Explorers took out American U, Lafayette, Cornell, Drexel, Stetson, and Temple among losses to UC San Diego and UIC in their first eight outings. A 2-5 stretch came next with wins over Fairleigh Dickinson and Immaculata among losses to Northeastern, Saint Joseph’s, North Carolina, Dayton, and Loyola Chicago. It’s been a 4-4 run since then with wins over St. Bonaventure, Davidson, Rhode Island, and George Washington mixed with losses to UMass, Saint Louis, Fordham, and VCU in that time. The result in the record column so far has been a 12-11 overall run through 23 games for La Salle.
Matched up on the road versus VCU in their Tuesday game, the Explorers hit a rough 48-28 deficit in the first half. La Salle didn’t get any closer during a rough 48-38 run from there and lost in blowout fashion 96-66 by the game’s end. Tunde Vahlberg Fasasi came off the bench to lead the team with 11 points, three rebounds, two assists, and one steal. Jahlil White chipped in with 10 points, two rebounds, and two steals as the leading starter, and Daeshon Shepherd added nine points with one rebound and one steal in 24 minutes during the losing effort.
Why the La Salle Explorers will win
- La Salle has won each of its last eight day games at John Glaser Arena.
- La Salle has won the first half in nine of its last 10 day games at John Glaser Arena.
Why the Massachusetts Minutemen will win
- Massachusetts has won the first half in eight of its last nine day games against La Salle.
La Salle vs UMass Prediction
I’ll take a stab at La Salle. If both teams play to their capabilities here, we should have a fun matchup that ends up very competitive. If not, it’ll be a comedy of errors. The Explorers were blitzed by a good VCU team in their last road matchup, shooting just 38.6 percent from the field with a 45-24 rebounding deficit. La Salle gave up 52.1 percent on the other side shooting-wise and was pretty much buried by the end of the first half. The Explorers had been scoring pretty well prior to that, however, with 70 or more points in three straight games.
Back on January 19 when these teams last saw each other, La Salle took a rough 82-60 road loss. The Explorers again shot poorly (35.3 percent) from the field in that one and had a 53-37 discrepancy in rebounding. The 13 turnovers for 20 Minutemen points didn’t help either. I like La Salle to look better in the home rematch but I’m probably avoiding this one.
