The Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles and the SIU Edwardsville Cougars meet Thursday in college basketball action from Vadalabene Center. Tennessee Tech is 4-9 on the year. The Eagles beat Kentucky Christian in their last game. As for SIU Edwardsville, they’re 9-4 this season and fresh off a win versus Saint Louis. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Tennessee Tech has managed to beat only Tennessee Wesleyan, East TN State, Truett-McConnell and Kentucky Christian this year. The losses have come to Tennessee, Marshall, Coppin State, Northern KY, Chattanooga, Butler, Troy, Lipscomb and Western Carolina.
Last Tuesday versus Kentucky Christian, Tennessee Tech drilled the Knights 60-41 in the first half. The Golden Eagles scored another 44 points during a 104-72 win. Both Jaylen Sebree (16 points; 10 rebounds) and Grant Slatten (10 points; 15 rebounds) doubled up.
Over on the SIU Edwardsville side, they were 7-2 in their first nine with wins over Harris-Stowe, Fairleigh Dickinson, VMI, Longwood, UMKC, St. Ambrose and Troy. Since then it’s been a 2-2 run with wins over Illinois Tech and Saint Louis.
Matched up against the Billikens last Wednesday, the Cougars were down 33-22 going into the second half. SIU Edwardsville stormed back on a 47-34 run and won it 69-67. DeeJuan Pruitt led the team on 21 points and nine rebounds.
PICK: I’ll probably stick with SIU Edwardsville. Also probably staying away, though. The Cougars have been something of a mixed bag over their last four games, however they get credit for a nice comeback win versus a pretty good Saint Louis team in their last outing. SIU Edwardsville has scored 69 or more points in five of their last six games and should keep that trend going here. As for Tennessee Tech, they’ve struggled offensively this month with 66 or fewer points in four of their last five games. I don’t think the Eagles will keep up for long here.