St. Bonaventure Bonnies vs Saint Louis Billikens Prediction, 1/8/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: St. Bonaventure Bonnies vs Saint Louis Billikens

Date: Wednesday, January 8, 2025

Location: Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis, MO

TV: ESPN+

The Saint Louis Billikens (9-6) host the St. Bonaventure Bonnies (14-1) at Chaifetz Arena on Wednesday.

The St. Bonaventure Bonnies took the court against Fordham and went home with a win by a final score of 86-66 in their last game. When talking about personal fouls, the Bonnies ended up walking away with 13 while Fordham finished the game with 16 personal fouls. They also converted 10 out of their 27 tries from beyond the perimeter. Fordham finished the game shooting 88.9% from the free throw line by knocking down 8 of their 9 shots. On top of that, Fordham snagged 24 rebounds (5 offensive, 19 defensive), but finished the game with no rejections. Fordham recorded 13 assists and had 5 steals for this contest. In terms of the defense, St. Bonaventure allowed the other team to go 43.6% from the field on 24 out of 55 shooting. They also distributed 13 assists for this contest in addition to creating 13 turnovers and earning 11 steals. In regard to grabbing rebounds, they earned 31 with 7 of them being of the offensive variety. At the free throw line, the Bonnies made 15 of 18 shots for a percentage of 83.3%. St. Bonaventure walked away from the game with a 52.5% field goal percentage (31 out of 59) and buried 9 of their 19 shots from beyond the perimeter.

Melvin Council Jr. is a guy who was important in the matchup. He ended up scoring 24 points on 11 out of 18 shooting. He saw the court for 40 minutes played and grabbed 1 rebound. He finished the game shooting 61.1% from the field and also recorded 8 dimes.

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St. Bonaventure enters this matchup with a record of 14-1 for the season. They have an average of 73.3 points per game (238th in D-1) while shooting 46.5% from the floor. The Bonnies are connecting on 32.9% on shots from distance (99 of 301) and 73.0% from the free throw line. As a team, St. Bonaventure is pulling in 35.8 boards per game and is sitting with 174 dimes on the season, which has them ranked 311th in college hoops in terms of passing the ball. They turn it over 10.6 times per game and as a team they are committing 13.1 personal fouls per contest.

On defense, the Bonnies are forcing 13.8 turnovers per game while drawing 15.1 personal fouls. They are currently ranked 103rd in college in allowing assists to the opposition with 173 relinquished for the season. The Bonnies defensively are giving up a FG percentage of 39.7% (328 of 827) and they surrender 31.4 boards per game as a group. They give up 31.2% on 3-point attempts while they are 11th in college hoops in opponents PPG (61.1).

The last time they took the court, the Saint Louis Billikens went home victorious with a score of 73-57 against Saint Joseph's. The Billikens corralled 31 defensive boards and 6 offensive boards for a total of 37 for the game. They coughed up the ball 9 times, while getting 4 steals in the game. Saint Joseph's committed 17 fouls for the game which got the Billikens to the free throw line for 14 tries. They were able to make 10 of those for a percentage of 71.4%. When discussing shots from 3-point land, Saint Louis knocked down 9 out of 28 attempts (32.1%). When this game wrapped up, the Billikens walked away from this one shooting 27 for 55 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 49.1%. The Billikens permitted Saint Joseph's to convert 21 of 64 tries from the field which left them with a rate of 32.8% for the game. They went 15.4% from beyond the perimeter by hitting 4 out of 26 and ended up going 11 of 15 at the charity stripe (73.3%). With respect to how they rebounded, Saint Louis allowed Saint Joseph's to grab 32 in all (11 on the offensive side).

Isaiah Swope ended up being a factor for the Billikens in the matchup. He scored 26 points in his 38 minutes on the hardwood and had 8 dimes for the matchup. He buried 9 of 15 for the matchup for a rate of 60.0%, and tallied 1 rebound.

Saint Louis has a win-loss record of 9-6 on the year. As an offense, the Billikens are shooting 48.5% from the field, which is 45th in college. Saint Louis has 1,166 points so far this year (77.7 per game) and they average 36.7 boards per game. They are assisting teammates 16.1 times per game (82nd in the nation) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 11.9 times per game. The Billikens are committing 15.3 personal fouls per game and they connect on 64.4% from the free throw line.

The Saint Louis defense surrenders 32.5% on shots from beyond the perimeter (112 of 345) and opponents are making 69.7% of their free throw attempts. They concede 10.9 assists and 35.1 rebounds per game, which ranks 43rd and 228th in the country. The Billikens are ranked 163rd in college hoops in points allowed per game with 70.4. They are forcing 10.9 TO's every game and have let teams shoot 42.1% from the field (128th in D-1).

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take St. Bonaventure

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