Loyola-Chicago vs Fairleigh Dickinson 11/7/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Fairleigh Dickinson Knights and Loyola Chicago Ramblers meet Monday in college basketball action at the Joseph J. Gentile Arena. The Fairleigh Dickinson Knights are coming off a 4-win season. The Loyola Chicago Ramblers are coming off a 25-win season.

The Fairleigh Dickinson Knights have won a combined 13 games the last 2 seasons. Sebastien Lamaute returns after averaging 5.8 points and 3.2 rebounds, while Joe Munden Jr. averaged 4.9 points and 1 assist. Daniel Rodriguez played in 151 minutes last season, and Ansley Almonor averaged 1.7 rebounds. The Fairleigh Dickinson Knights said goodbye to their top-5 scorers from last season, so it’s fair to say this is a completely new roster. While production will be a question, Fairleigh Dickinson does have 9 upperclassmen on its roster, so experience is a good starting point for this group. 

The Loyola Chicago Ramblers enter the second season under coach Drew Valentine. Braden Norris returns after averaging 10.4 points and 2.8 rebounds, while Marquise Kennedy averaged 7.9 points and 2.1 assists. Tom Welch played in 257 minutes last season and Jacob Hutson averaged 2 rebounds. The Loyola Chicago Ramblers lost a lot of production from a year ago, including two of the better players in school history in Lucas Williamson and Aher Uguak. Loyola Chicago snags a few transfers, which includes Sheldon Edwards from Valparaiso, Jeameril Wilson from Lehigh and Bryce Golden from Butler. 

The Knights are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 Monday games. The Ramblers are 15-5-3 ATS in their last 23 Monday games. The over is 5-2 in Knights last 7 road games. The under is 4-0 in Ramblers last 4 overall.

The Fairleigh Dickinson Knights return very little production from a year ago, and I usually fade teams like that heading into the season. The Loyola Chicago Ramblers are in a similar boat, but they also snagged many transfers who can step in and contribute right away. Loyola Chicago is simply the easier team to trust in this spot, even if there’s question marks. I’ll lay the chalk.