Southern Illinois Salukis vs Valparaiso Beacons Prediction, 1/28/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Southern Illinois Salukis vs Valparaiso Beacons

Date: Tuesday, January 28, 2025

Location: Athletics-Recreation Center in Valparaiso, IN

TV: ESPN+

The Southern Illinois Salukis (9-12) are headed to Athletics-Recreation Center on Tuesday where they will attempt to defeat the Valparaiso Beacons (10-11).

The Southern Illinois Salukis took the court against UIC and took home the win by a score of 89-85 in their last game. Concerning fouls, the Salukis finished with 21 while UIC totaled 24 fouls. They converted 10 of 24 attempts from distance. UIC went 67.9% from the free throw line by knocking down 19 of 28 tries. Furthermore, UIC collected 25 rebounds (5 offensive, 20 defensive), but didn't notch a rejection. UIC distributed 17 assists and had 4 steals for the contest. In relation to defense, Southern Illinois let their opponent shoot 50.0% from the field on 28 of 56 shooting. They also dished out 20 assists for this contest in addition to forcing the opposition into 10 turnovers and getting 4 steals. When discussing hauling in boards, they earned a total of 31 with 9 of them being on the offensive end. At the charity stripe, the Salukis converted 19 of their 26 shots for a percentage of 73.1%. Southern Illinois ended the contest with a 55.0% field goal percentage (33 of 60) and buried 4 out of their 14 3-point shots.

Ali Abdou Dibba is a guy who was a major contributor for this game. He was able to score 26 points on 9 of 21 shooting. He was on the court for 37 minutes and also totaled 4 rebounds. He walked away from this one shooting 42.9% from the floor and recorded 3 assists.

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Southern Illinois will play this game with a mark of 9-12 on the year. They cough up possession 12.8 times per game and as a team they commit 16.9 fouls per game. As a team, Southern Illinois is pulling in 35.4 rebounds per contest and is sitting with 311 assists so far this season, which ranks 95th in Division 1 in terms of passing. The Salukis are shooting 32.8% on shots from 3-point land (134 of 408) and 67.6% from the charity stripe. They are averaging 73.3 pts per contest (218th in Division 1) while hitting 45.5% from the floor.

Defensively, the Salukis are forcing 12.2 turnovers per contest and they draw 16.9 fouls. They are currently ranked 264th in D-1 in giving up assists to the opposition with 287 surrendered for the year. The Salukis are allowing an opponent shooting percentage of 44.9% (544 of 1,212) and they surrender 34.0 boards per contest as a group. They concede 35.4% on shots from downtown while they are 260th in college hoops in PPG allowed (74.1).

The last time they took the hardwood, the Valparaiso Beacons went home defeated by a final of 78-68 when they played Evansville. The Beacons were able to corral 15 defensive rebounds and 13 offensive rebounds for a total of 28 for this game. They also turned it over 11 times, while recording 13 steals for this contest. Evansville was called for 15 fouls in this game which took the Beacons to the charity stripe for 13 tries. They were able to convert 6 of those for a clip of 46.2%. Concerning shots from distance, Valparaiso converted 8 out of their 29 attempts (27.6%). When the final whistle blew, the Beacons went 27 for 70 from the floor which had them sitting at 38.6%. The Beacons permitted Evansville to convert 29 out of 50 tries from the floor which left them with a shooting percentage of 58.0% in the game. They shot 62.5% from distance by going 10 out of 16 and finished the game at 10 of 12 from the free throw line (83.3%). When discussing rebounds, Valparaiso allowed Evansville to pull down 30 in total (3 offensive).

All Wright ended up being a major contributor for the Beacons in the matchup. He recorded 13 points in his 33 mins of playing time and had 1 assist in this game. He converted 6 out of 19 in the game giving him a rate of 31.6%, and earned 1 rebound.

Valparaiso has a win-loss record of 10-11 for the year. The Beacons commit 17.1 personal fouls every game and they go 78.0% from the free throw line. They are dishing out assists 11.7 times per game (316th in the country) and they lose possession via turnover 10.7 times per contest. Valparaiso has 1,615 pts so far this year (76.9 per contest) and they pull in 36.0 boards per contest. As an offense, the Beacons are shooting 43.2% from the floor, which ranks them 267th in the nation.

The Valparaiso defense gives up 33.0% from downtown (144 of 437) and opponents are knocking down 69.6% of their shots from the charity stripe. They have conceded 12.2 dimes and 35.0 boards per game, which ranks 104th and 217th in those categories on the defensive end. The Beacons on the defensive end are ranked 248th in D-1 in points given up per game with 73.8. They are forcing 12.5 TO's per game and have let teams shoot 45.6% from the floor (298th in D-1).

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Valparaiso

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