Game Information
#18 Saint Louis Billikens (23-1) at Loyola Chicago Ramblers (6-19)
Time: 7:30pm CT Friday
How to watch: ESPN2
DraftKings Odds
Spread: SLU -18.5
Total: 155.5
KenPom Projection
SLU 88, Loyola 66
The 18th-ranked Saint Louis University Billikens go for their 18th consecutive win tonight on the road against the Loyola Chicago Ramblers.
SLU is two wins away from tying the longest streak in school history set by the 2013-14 team.
The Bills are certainly expected to make it 18 in a row tonight with being favored by nearly 20 points, but will they cover the spread?
I think this is a tough one to call from that perspective.
The Billikens are certainly capable of erupting on a team like they did three Friday’s ago when they went up to St. Bonaventure and absolutely demolished the Bonnies with a barrage of 3-pointers. Tonight’s matchup suggests a repeat of that performance could be in the cards.
SLU is the 2nd-best 3-point shooting team in the nation at 41.4%, and Loyola is dreadful at defending shots from behind the arc. The Ramblers rank 357th out of 365 teams in Division One by allowing their opponents to hit 38.3% of their shots from deep.
Loyola also can’t shoot the 3. The Ramblers rank 313th in the country at 31.1%, and it’s difficult to see them showing much improvement on that tonight when SLU ranks 3rd in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage defense.
However, with all that said, this is the dog days of the season for the Billikens. Josh Schertz commented how the team looked tired after the La Salle game, so I don’t feel very confident about them having an A+ performance tonight. This is a game the Bills should win without much of a sweat, so I expect them to take care of business - but I also don’t think they are in a spot where they need to run up the score.
I am passing on betting this game, but if forced to make a wager, I would go with SLU to go over their team total. Loyola’s woeful 3-point defense numbers are eye-popping, so Trey Green, Ishan Sharma and company should be licking their chops tonight.
Lean: SLU over 87.5 team total points at -110 on DraftKings
Eric Sontag hosts Domesticated Gamblers every Wednesday night on the STL Sports Central YouTube channel. Follow him on X @GamblingDads, and click here for his daily picks on all of our St. Louis area sports teams. Get Eric's picks for all sports by following him in the Action Network app with the username "esontag". Disclaimer