South Dakota vs Western Illinois 2/19/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Western Illinois Leathernecks and the South Dakota Coyotes meet in college basketball action from the Sanford Coyote Sports Center on Saturday afternoon.

The Western Illinois Leathernecks will look to rebound from a 91-66 loss to South Dakota State last time out. Trenton Massner leads the Leathernecks in scoring and assists with 16.3 PPG and 4 APG while Will Carius has 14.8 PPG and Luka Barisic has 14.5 PPG with 5.9 RPG this season. Colton Sandage has 13.7 PPG with 4 RPG and 2.6 APG to make up the group of double-digit scorers for WIU this season while Tamell Pearson has 9.6 PPG with a team-high 6.2 RPG this season. As a team, Western Illinois is averaging 79.3 PPG on 43.9% shooting from the field, 33.9% from three and 70% from the foul line while allowing 76.8 PPG on 46% shooting from the field and 36.9% from three this season.

The South Dakota Coyotes will look to build on their current three-game winning streak after an 81-60 win over St. Thomas (MN) last time out. Kruz Perrott-Hunt leads the Coyotes in scoring and assists with 15.2 PPG and 2.3 APG while Mason Archambault has 14.9 PPG with 3.6 RPG and 2.1 APG and Xavier Fuller has 10.6 PPG with 3.7 RPG. Tasos Kamateros has 10.6 PPG with 5.6 RPG to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for South Dakota up to this point in the year. Hunter Goodrick has a team-high 7.5 RPG to lead the Coyotes on the glass this season. As a team, South Dakota is averaging 75.5 PPG on 46.6% shooting from the field, 37% from three and 74.2% from the foul line while allowing 70.4 PPG on 44.9% shooting from the field and 37.1% from three this season.

Western Illinois is 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games overall and 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games against a team with a winning record while the over is 6-1 in their last 7 games as an underdog. South Dakota is 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games overall and 7-0 ATS in their last 7 games as a favorite while the under is 5-0-1 in their last 6 games against a team with a winning record.

I get the case to be made either way here, but I’m leaning towards the over. I think the Coyotes could eke out the win here as well as the cover, but WIU’s offense always gives them a chance to stay in games and catch other teams off guard. I think this ends up as a game where one if not both teams get into the 80s and as such, I’m siding with the over.