Missouri State vs Belmont Prediction 2/8/25 College Basketball Picks

The Missouri State Bears and the Belmont Bruins meet Saturday in college basketball action from Curb Event Center. Here’s a Missouri State vs Belmont prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Missouri State vs Belmont pick. We will examine: 

The Missouri State Bears’ recent form and player performance

The Belmont Bruins’ recent form and player performance 

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Missouri State Bears

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Belmont Bruins

Recent betting trends in games played between Missouri State and Belmont

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Missouri State vs Belmont game

Missouri State Bears Betting Preview

Missouri State kicked off the year on a reasonable run, but they’ve been struggling since late December. The Bears hit a 7-5 record in their opening 12 outings, taking out Missouri Southern State, Tulsa, Texas Arlington, High Point, Oral Roberts, Lincoln MO, and UC Santa Barbara in that time. Since then the Bears have just one win, beating Murray State on February 1. Otherwise, it’s been consecutive losses to Evansville, Valparaiso, Bradley, UIC, Southern Illinois (twice), Illinois State, Northern Iowa, Drake, Indiana State, and Northern Iowa during that time. The result so far has been an 8-16 overall run through the first 24 outings of the season. 

In the Northern Iowa matchup on Wednesday, the Bears entered the second half with a four-point deficit. Missouri State didn’t end up getting any closer on a 32-31 run and lost the game 66-61 in the end. Both Michael Osei-Bonsu (three rebounds; two assists; two steals) and Vincent Brady (four rebounds; five assists) led the team in the losing effort with 13 points apiece. Dez White chipped in with 12 points, three assists, and two rebounds as well. 

Belmont Bruins Betting Preview

Over on the Belmont side, they’ve had some choppy runs here and there but aren’t doing too badly overall. The Bruins won nine of their first 11 outings, beating Maryville College TN, Lipscomb, Air Force, Oral Roberts, Tulane, Gardner-Webb, Illinois State, Middle Tennessee, and Richmond in that time. After losses to UC Irvine, Drake, and Northern Iowa came wins over UIC, Southern Illinois, Indiana State, Valparaiso, and Evansville. It’s been a spotty 2-3 run since then with wins over Murray State and Bradley among losses to Bradley, Illinois State, and Evansville, giving the Bruins a 16-8 record in their first 24 outings of the 2024-25 season so far. 

Matched up against the Braves in their Wednesday game, the Bruins opened things up on a 39-35 run. Belmont fell back a bit on a 42-41 second half but still held on for the victory in the end 80-77. Tyler Lundblade was the team’s top scorer with 25 points and three rebounds. Jonathan Pierre added 17 points with seven boards and five assists, while Carter Whitt put up 14 points with four boards, four assists, and three steals. 

Why the Belmont Bruins will win

• Missouri State has lost each of its last seven road games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Belmont has won each of its last nine Saturday home games.
• Missouri State has lost the first half in nine of its last 12 games against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Missouri State vs Belmont Prediction 

I’ll stay with Belmont here. The Bruins are coming off a decent effort versus a solid Bradley team in their last outing, hitting 46.7 percent from the field with 17 points off 17 Braves turnovers. Belmont did give up 52.7 percent shooting on the other side, however, and got outpaced on the boards 36-29 in their win. Still, it was a much-needed victory after a couple of losses in which Belmont surrendered a combined 161 points. 

As for Missouri State, they’re coming off a pretty tepid effort versus Northern Iowa, giving away 13 turnovers for 18 Panthers points. The Bears have been below 69 points in six of their last seven games (all six were losses) so I’m not confident they can put up enough offense to stay close here. Belmont should have the advantage in a comfortable home game.