VMI vs East Tennessee State Prediction College Basketball Picks 1/1/25

The VMI Keydets and the East Tennessee State Buccaneers meet Wednesday in college basketball action from the Freedom Hall Civic Center. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a VMI vs. East Tennessee State prediction.

VMI Recap

The VMI Keydets come into this game looking for a win to get back to .500 after falling to 6-7 on the year thanks to a 78-71 loss to Richmond in their last outing. After this game, VMI will head back home for a conference matchup against the Mercer Bears.

Keydets Looking To Find Consistency

Augustinas Kiudulas leads the Keydets in scoring and rebounding with 15.1 PPG and 6.6 RPG while TJ Johnson has 14.8 PPG with 4.3 RPG and Rickey Bradley Jr. has 13.1 PPG with 4.5 RPG and 3.6 APG to cap off the trio of double-digit scorers for VMI so far this season. Linus Holmstrom posted 9 PPG while Tan Yildizoglu has 8.2 PPG with 3.5 RPG and a team-high 5.3 APG to lead the Keydets in the assist department up to this point in the season. As a team, VMI is averaging 79.9 PPG on 44.4% shooting from the field, 34.4% from behind the three-point line, and 74.7% from the foul line so far this season.

Why the VMI Keydets will win

• East Tennessee State has lost four of its last five games.

East Tennessee State Recap

The East Tennessee State Buccaneers will be out to bounce back after ending up with a 73-66 loss at the hands of the Kansas City Roos to drop to 7-6 on the year with their 4th loss in their last 5 games. After this game, East Tennessee State will welcome Wofford to town for a SoCon clash.

Buccaneers Looking To Stay Hot At Home

Quimari Peterson leads East Tennessee State in scoring and assists with 18.7 PPG and 4.4 APG along with 4.7 RPG while Jaden Seymour has 16.6 PPG with a team-high 6.4 RPG to lead the Buccaneers in rebounding so far this season. John Buggs III has 11.5 PPG to round out the group of double-digit scorers for East Tennessee State so far this season and Karon Boyd has 9.6 PPG with 6.4 RPG to share the team lead on the glass for East Tennessee State this season. As a team, East Tennessee State is averaging 75 PPG on 44.9% shooting from the field, 34.8% from behind the arc, and 61.1% from the foul line this season.

Why the East Tennessee State Buccaneers will win

• VMI has lost each of its last 13 games against the Southern Conference.
• East Tennessee State has won 18 of its last 19 games against VMI.

Total Points Facts

• Seven of East Tennessee State’s last eight day games have produced a total of 146 or fewer points.
• Each of VMI’s last four games has produced a total of 149+ points.

VMI vs. East Tennessee State Prediction

I’m going to side with East Tennessee State here. The Buccaneers have played their best basketball at home this season where they are 6-1 SU, while VMI’s last two wins have come against non-division I opponents. And while some of those losses for VMI were steps up in class against teams like Davidson, Pitt, and George Washington, they also took losses to similar teams like Richmond, Loyola-Maryland, and Tennessee Tech. I just think home court proves to be the difference for East Tennessee State to win their 6th straight head-to-head matchup with VMI. Give me the Buccaneers here.