St. Thomas (MN) vs UC Riverside Prediction College Basketball Picks 12/29/24

The St. Thomas-MN Tommies and the UC Riverside Highlanders meet Sunday in college basketball action from UC Riverside Student Recreation Center Here’s a St. Thomas-MN vs UC Riverside prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best St. Thomas-MN vs UC Riverside pick. We will examine:

The St. Thomas-MN Tommies’ recent form and player performance

The UC Riverside Highlanders’ recent form and player performance

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the St. Thomas-MN Tommies

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the UC Riverside Highlanders

Recent betting trends in games played between St. Thomas-MN and UC Riverside

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the St. Thomas-MN vs UC Riverside game

St. Thomas-MN Tommies Betting Preview

The Tommies hit a 4-4 run out of the gate this year with losses to Oklahoma State, Arizona State, Wofford, and Milwaukee. St. Thomas-MN has since beaten Chicago State, Northern Colorado, Montana, Western Michigan, Crown and Bowling Green.

In the Bowling Green game on December 21, the Tommies held a 46-20 edge by halftime. St. Thomas-MN cruised on 47 more points from there and won 93-68. Miles Barnstable posted 23 points with two steals and two blocks in the victory.

UC Riverside Highlanders Betting Preview

Over on the Highlanders’ side, they also started at 4-4 with losses to Oregon, BYU, Santa Clara, and Idaho. UC Riverside would then beat CSU Northridge, CSU Fullerton, St. Francis IL, and Montana State before a loss to UNLV.

Matched up against the Rebels last Saturday, the Highlanders were down by two points in the locker room. UC Riverside scored just 24 more points from there in a 66-53 loss. Barrington Hargress topped the team with his 17 points and two rebounds.

Why the UC Riverside Highlanders will win

• UC Riverside has won each of its last nine Sunday home games.

Why the St. Thomas Tommies will win

• St. Thomas (MN) has won each of its last six games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• UC Riverside has lost the first half in five of its last six games against non-AP-ranked opponents.

St. Thomas-MN vs UC Riverside Prediction

I’m probably going to try St. Thomas-MN here. We should have a pretty fun matchup in-store, though. The Tommies dispatched a struggling Bowling Green team pretty easily in their last game, hitting 51.6 percent from the field with a 39-30 rebounding edge. The 14 turnovers were just about the only thing worth complaining about. During this six-game win streak, the Tommies have scored 77 or more points in every game and 87 or more in five of them.

As for UC Riverside, they shot a miserable 28.8 percent from the field in their loss to UNLV but did well on the boards with a 45-38 edge. The Highlanders had scored 75 or more points in three straight games prior to that, however, so we should have a pretty decent total on Sunday. That said, I like St. Thomas-MN to power out a good effort in a cover/win. 

Andrew Jett's Pick: St. Thomas-MN Tommies +1