Elon vs William & Mary Prediction 1/9/25 College Basketball Picks

The Elon Phoenix and the William & Mary Tribe meet Thursday in college basketball action from Kaplan Arena. Here’s an Elon vs William & Mary prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Elon vs William & Mary pick. We will examine:

The Elon Phoenix’s recent form and player performance

The William & Mary Tribe’s recent form and player performance

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Elon Phoenix

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the William & Mary Tribe

Recent betting trends in games played between Elon and William & Mary

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Elon vs William & Mary game

Elon Phoenix Betting Preview

Elon’s first six games were a spotty 3-3 run, but they’ve looked much better since then. In those first half-dozen outings the Phoenix took wins over Bluefield University, Northern Illinois, and Notre Dame. Otherwise, it was losses to North Carolina, Gardner-Webb, and Maine. Since then Elon has been on a nice 8-1 stretch with a lone loss to East Tennessee State on December 18. The victories otherwise in that time have been versus Navy, Penn, Wofford, Virginia-Lynchburg, UNC Greensboro, Marshall, North Carolina A&T, and Hampton.

Matched up against Hampton in the Saturday game, the Phoenix were in trouble with a 32-30 halftime deficit. Elon surged in the second however, posting a 40-30 run for a comeback win 70-62 in the end. Tops in scoring was Nick Dorn with 24 points and five rebounds in 34 minutes of action. Sam Sherry doubled up on 20 points with 12 rebounds and a pair of steals, while TJ Simpkins added 11 points with four rebounds, two steals and two assists.

William & Mary Tribe Betting Preview

Over on the William & Mary side, they kicked off their 2024-25 campaign on a sketchy run as well, going just 3-6 over their first nine outings. The Tribe beat only Dickinson PA, Norfolk State, and Georgia Southern in that time. Otherwise, it was losses to Radford, Winthrop, North Carolina Central, NC State, App State, and Old Dominion. William & Mary have likewise looked better lately, hitting a 5-1 run over the last half-dozen outings. The lone loss came versus VCU. Otherwise, it was wins over Virginia-Lynchburg, Richmond, Navy, Hofstra, and Stony Brook.

Matched up against Stony Brook on Saturday, the Tribe entered the locker room with a 42-37 edge. William & Mary outpaced the Seawolves 41-39 from there and ended up with a win 83-76. Leading the way was Isaiah Mbeng with 15 points, three assists, and three steals off the bench. Caleb Dorsey also came off the bench to provide 14 points, seven boards, and three assists. Leading the starters was Gabe Dorsey with 13 points, while Chase Lowe added 11 points, six rebounds, and eight assists in 26 minutes on the court.

Why the William & Mary Tribe will win

• William & Mary has won each of its last six games at Kaplan Arena against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Elon has lost each of its last three games at Kaplan Arena against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Elon has lost the first half in seven of its last eight road night games against Conference opponents.

Why the Elon Phoenix will win

• Elon has won eight of its last nine night games.
• William & Mary has lost eight of its last nine night games against Conference opponents.

Elon vs William & Mary Prediction

I’ll stay with William & Mary. The Tribe had mixed results statistically versus a struggling Stony Brook team in their last outing though, so I’d like to see a more decisive effort here. In that win William & Mary posted 51.9 percent shooting from the field with just five turnovers. That said, the Tribe also got out-rebounded 35-28 and hit just 15-of-23 (65.2 percent) from the foul line. William & Mary have been scoring quite well lately, with 70 or more points in eight straight games (a 5-3 run). If they can keep it going Thursday, they’ll be in great shape.

As for Elon, they did pretty well overall against a middling Hampton team in their last outing but did cough up 13 turnovers for 13 Pirates points. The Phoenix are scoring pretty darn well themselves lately, with 70 or more points in four straight (all wins) and 68 or more in eight of the last nine (all eight were wins). If both teams are on, this will be a relatively high-scoring finish, but I think the Tribe can pull it off.