Southern Illinois vs Drake 1/4/23 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Drake Bulldogs and the Southern Illinois Salukis meet in college basketball action from the Banterra Center on Wednesday night.

The Drake Bulldogs will try to bounce back after a 52-49 loss to Missouri State in their last game. Tucker DeVries leads the Bulldogs in scoring with 18.7 PPG along with 5.9 RPG while Roman Penn has 10.8 PPG with 3.8 RPG and a team-high 4.1 APG to lead the Bulldogs in assists as the only other double-digit scorer for Drake up to this point in the year. Darnell Brodie also has a team-high 7.6 RPG as well for the Bulldogs this season. As a team, Drake is averaging 73.5 PPG on 45.6% shooting from the field, 34% from three and 76.3% from the foul line this season.

The Southern Illinois Salukis will be out to keep their win streak going after a 63-45 win over Belmont last time out. Marcus Domask leads the Salukis across the board in scoring, rebounding and assists with 17.4 PPG, 6.1 RPG and 3.6 APG this season while Lance Jones also has 13.9 PPG with 3.7 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 68.1 points per game on 46.7% shooting from the field, 32.5% from three point range and 73.2% from the foul line this season.

Drake is 1-4 ATS in their last 5 road games and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 road games against a team with a winning home record while the under is 4-1 in their last 5 games against a team with a winning percentage above .600. Southern Illinois is 1-4-1 ATS in their last 6 home games and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games against a team with a winning percentage above .600 while the under is 5-1 in their last 6 games following an ATS win.

I get the case to be made for Drake here as I’ve been on Drake for much of this season. However, this Drake team isn’t the same team that was a covering machine in past seasons, and they were really exposed in the loss to Missouri State as they couldn’t get anything going offensively. Southern Illinois isn’t going to make life any easier on Drake, as the Salukis are 6-1 at home this season. All in all, I just think that the Salukis at home in a pick ‘em against a Drake team that’s yet to win on the road has to be the play here. Give me Southern Illinois.