VCU Rams (16-8) vs. Saint Louis Billikens (9-15)
February 16, 2024 7:00 pm EDT
The Line: Saint Louis Billikens +6; Over/Under: 143.5
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The VCU Rams and the Saint Louis Billikens meet Friday in college basketball action from Chaifetz Arena. VCU is 16-8 overall so far. The Rams beat Dayton in their last outing. As for Saint Louis, they’re coming off a loss to Saint Joseph’s that dropped the Billikens to 9-15 overall. Let’s get into our VCU vs. Saint Louis prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
VCU Rams
The Rams started out on a sketchy 4-5 run this year, but quickly regained their footing. VCU hit a 9-2 run in the next 11 games before a loss to St. Bonaventure. Over the next three games the Rams began a new win streak with victories over Richmond, Fordham and Dayton in succession.
Last Friday versus Dayton, the Rams powered out a low-scoring nail-biter. VCU was up 25-22 going into the second half, then scored another 24 points from there in a tight 49-47 victory. Leading scorer Jason Nelson came off the bench with 11 points, the only one on the team in double-figures.
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St. Louis Billikens
Over on the Saint Louis side, they were able to limp to a .500 record after 16 games but things haven’t been good since then. The Billikens have lost to Dayton, VCU, Davidson, UMass, Loyola, Fordham and Saint Joseph’s (with a win over La Salle) in the last eight games.
Back on Saturday versus Saint Joseph’s, the Billikens held a 45-43 edge in the first half. Saint Louis was outscored 44-41 from there however and lost 87-86 in a tough outcome. Sincere Parker was the leading team scorer in the loss with 34 bench points and nine rebounds.
ANDREW’S FREE VCU VS SAINT LOUIS PREDICTION
I’ll stick with VCU here. The Rams posted a pretty wild victory over a very good Dayton team in their last outing, shooting 37.7 percent from the field with a 37-32 rebounding edge and just eight turnovers. It was the fourth time in the last five games that VCU has been under 64 points, but they’re 4-1 in that quintet.
These teams last saw each other on January 19 in an 85-61 blowout road win for the Rams. VCU was hot from the field in that one with 50 percent shooting and had a 36-30 rebounding advantage. Saint Louis may play a little better on the road in this rematch, but so long as VCU doesn’t suffer that big-win hangover I like the Rams to stay in control with a cover.
