Belmont vs Southern Illinois Prediction 2/15/25 College Basketball Picks

The Belmont Bruins and the Southern Illinois Salukis meet Saturday in college basketball action from SIU Arena. Here’s a Belmont vs Southern Illinois prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Belmont vs Southern Illinois pick. We will examine: 

The Belmont Bruins’ recent form and player performance

The Southern Illinois Salukis’ recent form and player performance 

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Belmont Bruins

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Southern Illinois Salukis

Recent betting trends in games played between Belmont and Southern Illinois

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

Belmont Bruins Betting Preview

Overall Belmont has been pretty good record-wise this year, but they’ve got a couple of rough stretches in the books so far. The Bruins opened up on a nice 9-2 run with wins over Maryville College TN, Lipscomb, Air Force, Oral Roberts, Tulane, Gardner-Webb, Illinois State, Middle Tennessee, and Richmond in that time. A losing streak versus UC Irvine, Drake, and Northern Iowa came in the next trio, then wins over UIC, Southern Illinois, Indiana State, Valparaiso, and Evansville. Since then it’s been a 3-4 run for Belmont. The wins have come over Murray State, Bradley, and Missouri State. Otherwise, it’s been losses to Illinois State, Evansville, and Valparaiso in that time. That gives the Bruins a 17-9 overall run through 26 games this year. 

In the matchup with Valparaiso on Wednesday, Belmont went into the locker room with a 56-39 deficit. The Bruins played better from there with 47 more points but still took a sizable loss 101-86 in the end. Jonathan Pierre led the team with his 22 points with five boards and two assists in the losing effort. Tyler Lundblade added 21 points with two rebounds and two steals, while Brody Peebles led the bench players on 10 points with one steal in 13 minutes. 

Southern Illinois Salukis Betting Preview

Over on the Salukis’ side, they were on a pretty rough run in early January but they’ve been playing better since then. Southern Illinois lost 11 of their first 16 games though. Those defeats came versus Charleston, Oklahoma State, Florida, LA Tech, Eastern Kentucky, Bradley, High Point, Northern Iowa, Evansville, Illinois State, and Belmont. Since then, however, it’s been an improved 7-3 stretch over the last 10 games. The Salukis have lost to Murray State, Drake, and Bradley in that time. Otherwise, it’s been wins over Missouri State (twice), Northern Iowa, UIC, Valparaiso, Evansville, and UIC again. In total so far this year that gives Southern Illinois a 12-14 overall run through the first 26 outings. 

In the Bradley matchup during their latest outing, the Salukis were down by seven points at halftime. Southern Illinois didn’t get any closer than that on a 43-36 run in the second and took the loss 78-64. Ali Dibba led the team with 29 points, six boards, and two assists. Drew Steffe was the only other team player in double-figures with 11 points, three rebounds, and three assists. Kennard Davis chipped in eight points with two rebounds as well. 

Why the Southern Illinois Salukis will win

• Southern Illinois has won 24 of its last 30 night games at Banterra Center against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Belmont has lost six of its last eight road night games against Conference opponents.
• Belmont has lost the first half in six of its last eight road night games against Conference opponents.

Why the Belmont Bruins will win

• Belmont has won each of its last seven Saturday games against the Missouri Valley Conference.
• Southern Illinois has lost the first half in three of its last four night games against the Missouri Valley Conference.

Belmont vs Southern Illinois Prediction 

I’ll lean toward Belmont. The Bruins didn’t play all that well versus Valparaiso in their last outing though, so they could use a bounce-back effort. Belmont shot a solid 49.2 percent from the field in that defeat, but also got out-rebounded 35-25 and gave up 56.9 percent shooting on the other side. The good news is that Belmont is scoring well this year, with 71 or more points in 12 straight games. 

These teams last met up on January 8 in a home win 90-86 for the Bruins. Belmont shot well in that one but also gave up 50 percent on the other side and had 13 turnovers. The Bruins need to clean up the ball-handling mistakes in the road rematch but should be in good shape.