Game Information
Saint Louis Billikens (19-14) at Arkansas State Red Wolves (24-10) - NIT First Round
Time: 8pm CST Tuesday
How to watch: ESPNU
DraftKings Odds
Spread: Arkansas State -5.5
Total: 154.5
KenPom projection: Arkansas State 76, SLU 72
Billikens Begin NIT
The Saint Louis University Billikens head south to meet the Arkansas State Red Wolves in an NIT first round game this evening.
The winner of tonight’s matchup advances to face the winner of the North Texas/Furman game that takes place tomorrow night.
Bills Bring NIT Experience
Several of the key figures from SLU bring a lot of NIT experience to this matchup. Head coach Josh Schertz along with his players Robbie Avila and Isaiah Swope made a run to the NIT championship game last year while at Indiana State.
I expect Gibson Jimerson to do everything he can tonight to extend his seemingly never-ending college career. The Billikens’ all-time leading scorer will be looking to atone for his 4-point performance in SLU’s loss to Loyola in the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
The Bills will have to focus on the glass tonight, as Arkansas State ranks sixth in the country in total rebounds per game.
Red Wolves Strong Defensively
Arkansas State excels defensively in making it difficult for their opponents to hit shots. The Red Wolves’ defense ranks eighth in the country in effective field goal percentage. They are also a top 25 defense in both two-point percentage against and three-point percentage against.
Arkansas State is not very strong shooting the ball on offense though, as the Red Wolves rank outside the top 200 in the country in effective field goal percentage, two-point percentage, and three-point percentage.
My Lean
Honestly, I’m not quite sure what to do with this game. It’s hard to gauge motivation here.
I wish I could bet an over on Jimerson’s points prop because I expect a big bounceback performance, but it doesn’t look like such a bet is available.
One thing I know about the Billikens is they don’t typically get blown out. The only game they were non-competitive in since the start of conference play was the loss at VCU.
If forced to make a pick on who covers, I’d side with the Billikens and Schertz’s NIT experience of knowing how to handle this tournament. I don’t see SLU going out with a whimper, so hopefully they do enough to cover the number.
Lean: SLU +5.5 at -108 on DraftKings
Eric Sontag hosts Domesticated Gamblers every Friday on the Sports Hub STL YouTube channel. Click here for his daily picks on all of our St. Louis area sports teams. Disclaimer