Game Information
#21 Saint Louis Billikens (20-1) vs Dayton Flyers (14-7)
Time: 7pm CT Friday
How to watch: CBS Sports Network
DraftKings Odds
Spread: SLU -9.5
Total: 152.5
KenPom Projection
SLU 81, Dayton 68
One of the hottest tickets of the year in St. Louis sports is tonight at a sold-out Chaifetz Arena when the #21 Saint Louis Billikens host the rival Dayton Flyers.
Billikens fever is rising in St. Louis, as SLU is off to its best start in program history after Tuesday’s dramatic victory over George Washington.
Dayton comes to town on a three-game losing streak, but I expect the Flyers to compete well in this rivalry matchup.
In this game last year at Chaifetz, SLU came in feeling good at 6-2 in the Atlantic 10. Dayton was 4-4 in conference play and coming off a blowout loss. The vibes were high in the building, but Dayton played great, SLU wasn’t ready for the moment, and the Flyers cruised to a 71-63 win.
So Billikens fans should be on guard tonight and expect a good performance from Dayton.
But I don’t think it’s going to matter against this year’s version of SLU.
The Billikens showed a ton of heart to come back and beat GW last time out. We’ve seen it a few times this year where the Bills have a close game, they have a lot to clean up, and the next game they come out and just beat the hell out of their opponent (see St. Bonaventure).
I think it may take a while to pull away from Dayton, but I don’t think the Flyers have the horses this year to keep up for 40 minutes with what is arguably the deepest team in SLU history.
Dayton is not a great offensive team. The Flyers rank 239th in the country out of 365 Division One teams in 3-point shooting.
SLU should have a massive edge on the glass. The Billikens lead the A10 in rebounding margin while Dayton is dead last in that category.
What the Flyers really do well defensively is they force a ton of turnovers, ranking 3rd in the nation in that department. So that could be an issue for SLU, especially early when the players are extra amped up.
But I expect the Bills to eventually settle into this game when they have the ball, and I think they are going to lock into Dayton defensively for a full 40 minutes. SLU is the #1 team in the nation in effective field goal percentage defense, so I look for Dayton to have to settle for a lot of difficult shots.
I see this game being close in the first half, but then the Billikens’ depth wears down the Flyers in the second half as SLU pulls away for a double-digit victory - and Billikens fever just continues to rise in the Gateway City.
Pick: SLU -9.5 at -112 on DraftKings (bet to -10)
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