Game Information
Saint Louis Billikens (13-1) at VCU Rams (11-4)
Time: 6pm CT Wednesday
How to watch: CBS Sports Network
DraftKings Odds
Spread: VCU -2.5
Total: 171.5
KenPom Projection
VCU 85, SLU 83
SLU, VCU Ready For Battle
The top two teams in the Atlantic 10 go toe-to-toe tonight when the Saint Louis University Billikens and VCU Rams meet at the Siegel Center.
These were the two preseason favorites in the A10, and they are right next to each other in the current KenPom rankings with SLU at #39 and VCU at #40.
SLU Looking For First Ever Win At VCU
This is a massive opportunity tonight for the Billikens, as this will be one of their few chances (and maybe their only chance) to pick up a Quad 1 victory this season. SLU is currently in good shape at #29 in the NET rankings, but a win tonight would obviously be super helpful.
The Billikens will be looking to break their dry spell on the road against the Rams. SLU has never won at VCU in 10 previous attempts.
VCU Tough Per Usual
VCU is 2-0 to start their A10 schedule, and per usual, the Rams are a tough team to deal with. They make it difficult for teams to score inside, as VCU ranks 38th out of 365 Division One teams in two-point field goal percentage defense.
The Rams’ weakness though is defending the 3. They rank 262nd in the county allowing teams to hit 35.4% from deep.
My Lean
One of the keys tonight is can the Billikens shoot well enough from 3-point range to pick up their first ever win at the Siegel Center? They should certainly have their opportunities with VCU’s poor 3-point defense, and SLU has been elite from deep, ranking 10th in the country from 3-point range (39.3%).
I just have a feeling though that the shots are not going to fall tonight in what has been a house of horrors for SLU over the years. The Bills drained a school-record 19 3’s in the win over Saint Joseph’s, so they are certainly due for regression.
But I also think SLU will cause VCU plenty of problems when the Rams have the ball. The Billikens are one of the top defensive teams in the nation in field goal percentage and rebounding, so this game might be lower-scoring than the oddsmakers project.
SLU’s two toughest games so far this season have come against Santa Clara and Stanford. Both games were away from home and both went under. I think we’re in for another dogfight here tonight with at least one of these teams falling short of the 80-point threshold, which would result in an under.
Lean: Under 171.5 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