Southern Illinois vs Belmont 1/1/23 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Belmont Bruins and the Southern Illinois Salukis meet in college basketball action from the Banterra Center on Sunday.

The Belmont Bruins will look to build on their current three-game win streak after a 63-60 win over Bradley last time out. Ben Sheppard leads the Bruins in scoring and assists with 18 PPG and 3.6 APG along with 4.6 RPG while Drew Friberg and Cade Tyson each have 13+ PPG to make up the trio of double-digit scorers for Belmont up to this point in the season. Tyson leads the Bruins in rebounding with 4.7 RPG this season. As a team, Belmont is averaging 76.1 PPG on 46.6% shooting from the field, 41.4% from three and 69.8% from the foul line this season.

The Southern Illinois Salukis will be out to build on a 63-57 road win over Murray State in their last game. Marcus Domask leads the Salukis across the board in scoring, rebounding and assists with 17.6 PPG, 6.2 RPG and 3.5 APG this season while Lance Jones also has 13.8 PPG with 3.8 RPG as the only other double-digit scorer for Southern Illinois up to this point in the season. As a team, Southern Illinois is averaging 68.5 points per game on 46.7% shooting from the field, 33.1% from three point range and 73.3% from the foul line this season.

Belmont is 2-7-1 ATS in their last 10 road games and 6-2-1 ATS in their last 9 games overall while the under is 10-4-1 in their last 15 road games against a team with a home winning percentage above .600. Southern Illinois is 0-4-1 ATS in their last 5 home games and 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games overall while the under is 4-1 in their last 5 games following an ATS win.

I get the case to be made either way in this game, as this line feels about right. That’s why I’m on the over here. The side could go either way, but this total is far too low for two teams that are more than capable of putting up points in bunches, with Belmont scoring 83 and 77 points in their last two true road games while Southern Illinois is top-100 in field goal percentage and free-throw percentage. Give me the over in this one.