The Saint Louis Billikens and the VCU Rams meet Saturday in Atlantic 10 Tournament college basketball action from Barclays Center. Saint Louis comes into this one at 21-11 overall. The Billikens beat George Mason in their first tournament game. As for VCU, they’re sitting at 25-7 overall following a tournament win over Davidson on Thursday. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Saint Louis Billikens
Saint Louis was sitting at 16-8 overall at the 24-game mark in early February. The Billikens closed the regular season on a 4-3 run, beating Davidson, Duquesne, Loyola IL and Dayton. The losses came to Dayton, Richmond and VCU otherwise.
On Thursday in tournament activity versus George Mason, the Billikens were up 44-30 going into the break. Saint Louis hit a 38-24 edge the rest of the way for an 82-54 blowout win. Tops in scoring was Gibson Jimerson with 21 points and four assists.
VCU Rams
Over on the VCU side, their first 24 games were an 18-6 run overall. The Rams would then lose to Dayton before taking wins over Rhode Island, Fordham, Saint Joseph’s, Richmond, Saint Louis and George Washington in succession.
Matched up against Davidson in the tournament on Thursday, the Rams were up 37-28 in the locker room. VCU posted a 34-25 run in the second half for a 71-53 victory. Adrian Baldwin, David Shriver and Jamir Watkins each scored 11 points to top the team.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’ll probably stay with VCU in this one. The Rams are coming off a pretty well-rounded win over Davidson on Thursday; five different players had at least nine points and eight had at least 16 minutes. VCU has now won seven straight games, scoring 71 or more points in each of the last six. These teams have met twice already, with the Rams taking the win each time. First was a 73-65 result on February 3, then a 79-67 outcome on February 28. Saint Louis has hit 78 or more points in five of their last seven games, so this one should be a fairly high total as well. I like VCU to stay in control, though.