Drake Bulldogs (13-3) vs. Southern Illinois Salukis (12-4)
January 13, 2024 8:00 pm EDT
The Line: Southern Illinois Salukis +2 ; Over/Under: 139.5
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The Drake Bulldogs and the Southern Illinois Salukis meet Saturday in college basketball action from SIU Arena. Drake just finished up a Wednesday game versus Indiana State. In that one, the Bulldogs took an 11-point win to improve to 13-3 overall in the MVC standings. As for Southern Illinois, they took on Valparaiso in their Wednesday matchup. The 12-4 Salukis went on to win by nine points. Let’s get into our Drake vs. Southern Illinois prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Drake Bulldogs
The Bulldogs posted a great run in their first 12 games, going 11-1 overall. The wins were versus Lipscomb, SW Minnesota State, Oakland, Akron, Texas Southern, Valparaiso, Missouri State, Saint Louis, Nevada, Grambling and Alcorn State. A 1-2 run came next with losses to UAB and Belmont, though.
On Wednesday versus Indiana State, the Bulldogs carried a 43-43 result into the second half. Drake got better from there on a 46-35 run and took the victory 89-78. Leading the team in the winning effort was Tucker DeVries on his 29 points, six rebounds and four assists in 38 minutes of work.
Southern Illinois Salukis
Over on the Salukis’ side, they won six of their first 10 games this year. The losses came versus James Madison, Indiana State, Austin Peay and Wichita State. Southern Illinois beat North Dakota State, Southern Indiana, UIC, Belmont and Illinois State over the next five games.
Matched up against Valparaiso on Wednesday, the Salukis stormed out to a 44-24 edge by the break. Southern Illinois was outscored 44-33 in the second half but held on for the victory 77-68. Xavier Johnson was the team’s top scorer with his 22 points, seven assists and three boards.
ANDREW’S FREE DRAKE VS SOUTHERN ILLINOIS PREDICTION
I’ll take a stab on Drake. You could probably argue this one either way though; it’ll be a good game. The Bulldogs are coming off a nice Wednesday win over a solid Indiana State team, hitting 46.9 percent from the field and 90.5 percent (19-of-21) from 3-point range. Drake did get out-rebounded 35-29, but only gave up three turnovers.
As for Southern Illinois, they’ve scored 71 or more points in all but one game during this current win streak and should put up a pretty good total in this one if all goes well. I like Drake to follow right along and power out a cover/win, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see it go Southern Illinois’ way either.
