The Loyola Chicago Ramblers and the VCU Rams meet Friday in college basketball action from Siegel Center in Richmond. Here’s a VCU vs Loyola Chicago Prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best VCU vs Loyola Chicago Prediction pick.
Loyola Ramblers Betting Preview
The Ramblers opened the season on a rough 1-7 run, but then won four of the next six games. Those wins came versus Central Michigan, Princeton, Santa Clara and Rhode Island. Loyola would lose to Dayton, Davidson, George Washington, George Mason, Dayton again, St. Bonaventure and Duquesne over the next seven games, giving the team a 5-16 run across the first 21 outings of the year.
On Tuesday versus Saint Joseph’s, Loyola was in trouble by the end of the first half, trailing by a massive 51-24 deficit. The Ramblers got better in the second on a 40-34 edge but it wasn’t anywhere near enough in an 85-64 blowout loss on home turf. Joshua Ola-Joseph led the team with his 13 points and seven boards while Deywilk Tavarez had 12 points and one assist in 17 minutes of work in the defeat.
VCU Rams Betting Preview
Over on the VCU side, they lost to Utah State, NC State, Vanderbilt and New Mexico during a 6-4 opening run this season. The Rams hit an 8-2 stretch over their next 10 games, taking out Niagara, American, Rider, St. Bonaventure, Duquesne, Rhode Island, Saint Joseph’s and Davidson in that time. In the first 20 games of the season the Rams were sitting at 14-6 overall.
Matched up against Richmond on Tuesday, the Rams were up 39-29 by halftime in a matchup at home. VCU was outscored by two 40-38 the rest of the way but managed to hang on and power out the 77-69 win in the end. Lazar Djokovic had 14 points with three rebounds, as did Terrence Hill, who also added a pair of assists in 23 minutes. Brandon Jennings put up 12 points as well.
Why the VCU Rams will win
- Loyola (IL) has lost each of its last eight games.
- VCU has won 25 of its last 28 games at Stuart C. Siegel Center.
- VCU has won the first half in 11 of its last 12 games at Stuart C. Siegel Center.
Why the Loyola Ramblers will win
- The road team has won the first half in each of Loyola (IL)’s last three games.
VCU vs Loyola Prediction
I’ll lean toward VCU. The Rams got past a pretty good Richmond team this week in a home game, hitting 43.4 percent from the field and a nice 81.5 percent (22-of-27) from outside. VCU would add a 30-25 advantage on the boards with just seven turnovers but also got outscored in the paint 32-24. The Rams are sitting on a four-game win streak right now and looking pretty good. VCU has scored 75 or more points in all four of those outings as well.
As for Loyola, they took another home loss to Saint Joseph’s in their most recent game, riding a rough first half toward 34.8 percent shooting overall and a 50-24 deficit on points in the paint. Loyola has hit the skids on eight straight losses, giving up 70 or more points in all of those defeats. VCU shouldn’t have much issue finding points in this matchup.