The Saint Louis Billikens will visit the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers on Friday night. As the end of the regular season approaches, each team hopes to move up in the conference standings and make a late season push at a big in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
The Billikens have lost three of their last four, while the Ramblers have been the opposite, winning three of their last four. Can Saint Louis buck that trend and notch an eighth conference win in Chicago, or will the Ramblers continue their winning ways of late?
Saint Louis vs. Loyola-Chicago Betting Preview
All Saint Louis vs. Loyola-Chicago odds are from DraftKings Sportsbook and are correct as of Friday, Feb. 14, 2025.
- Spread
Loyola-Chicago -2.5 - CSN Spread
Saint Louis -2 - Moneyline
Loyola-Chicago -148, Saint Louis +128 - Over/Under
141.5 points - Game Time
Friday, Feb. 14, 7 p.m. ET - Location
Gentile Arena | Chicago, IL - How To Watch
ESPN2
Saint Louis brings a 14-11 record into Chicago, sitting in a tie for third place in the A-10 standings with a 7-5 conference record. Despite their winning record this season, they’ve been atrocious ATS, covering in only eight of their 23 games. They’ve upped that mark in conference play, covering 50% of their A-10 matchups. But still, they haven’t covered in four of their last six.
Similarly, the over has been a bad play for the majority of the Billikens’ season. Astoundingly, only five games (21.7%) have gone over the listed point total, including only two of twelve conference outings. Of their nine games on the road, only one has reached the over.
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The Ramblers will hope to improve upon a 6-5 conference record and break a tie for fifth place. At 15-9 overall this season, Loyola-Chicago has nearly a reverse record ATS of 9-14 (one game came against a Non-Division 1 opponent in which no lines were presented). They’re only 4-8 ATS at home this season, but they have shown improvement lately, covering four of their last five games.
The under has also been a popular play for Loyola-Chicago. Only 10 of their games have reached the over, including only four of 12 on their home floor. Additionally, the under has been a successful play in five of their past six outings.
Saint Louis vs. Loyola-Chicago CSN Power Rankings Line
Our metrics show a different betting lean than Vegas’s. We have Saint Louis -2, while the sportsbooks display Loyola-Chicago -2.5. Despite the Ramblers’ home-court advantage, this is likely due to where these two teams sit in our power rankings.
The Billikens are slotted at No. 56, while Loyola-Chicago is nearing the century mark at No. 97. The clear advantage betting-wise is on Saint Louis’s side of the line. Still, our line takes in the entire body of work, ignoring the opposite ways these teams have gone in the last four games.
Prediction for Saint Louis vs. Loyola-Chicago
It won’t be easy for the Billikens to turn around a cold streak in their season against the surging Ramblers. Add a road environment in Chicago, and the difficulty soars even higher.
Saint Louis doesn’t lack scoring punch at the top of its lineup, however. Its top three scorers each average over 16 points a night.
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Combo guard Gibson Jimerson leads the way, scoring 17.0 ppg while nailing nearly three three-pointers each game. Big man Robbie Avila, formerly of Indiana State, does it all for the Billikens with a stat line of 16.7 ppg, 6.6 rpg, and 4.0 apg.
Isaiah Swope, the team’s point guard, sets the table for others with a team-leading 4.7 apg. He scored 22 points on four made three-point field goals in his last outing.
The Ramblers sport a more balanced offensive attack. Guards Des Watson, Sheldon Edwards Jr., and Jayden Dawson all average just over 12.0 ppg. Watson is a consistent force, scoring in double-figures in eight of his last nine games. Meanwhile, Edwards and Dawson have shown the ability to score at a higher clip when they get hot.
6’10” sophomore forward Miles Rubin will battle Avila down low, averaging 8.5 ppg and 5.1 rpg.
Betting-wise, the under is an easy play here. Saint Louis has only reached the over in 21.7% of their games, while the under has been the right pick in five of Loyola-Chicago’s last six matchups. We’ll take the under of 141.5.
Similarly, we’ll go with the recent numbers in terms of these teams covering the spread. Loyola-Chicago, playing better as of late, is at home against a team in the Billikens that has the arrow pointing down.
The play here is Loyola-Chicago -2.5. Each of their three top scorers had good scoring outputs in their last game. I expect that to continue in Gentile Arena. The Ramblers will take this one, making a move up the A-10 standings.
Picks: Under 141.5, Loyola-Chicago -2.5
Prediction: Loyola-Chicago 68, Saint Louis 63
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