Rhode Island (13-4) vs Davidson (12-5)
January 18, 2025 at 02:00 PM EST
The Line: Betting Odds: Rhode Island -1.5 — Over/Under 146.5
The Davidson Wildcats and the Rhode Island Rams meet Saturday in college basketball action from Ryan Center. Here’s a Davidson vs Rhode Island prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Davidson vs Rhode Island pick. We will examine:
The Davidson Wildcats’ recent form and player performance
The Rhode Island Rams’ recent form and player performance
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Davidson Wildcats
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Rhode Island Rams
Recent betting trends in games played between Davidson and Rhode Island
A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Davidson vs Rhode Island game
Davidson Wildcats Betting Preview
The Wildcats have managed a pretty respectable run so far, and they have yet to lose consecutive games. Following a run of wins over William Peace, Bowling Green, East Tennessee State, and VMI to open up the year, Davidson lost to Arizona and Gonzaga around a win versus Providence. The Wildcats would then hit a 5-1 run with a lone loss to Temple amid wins versus Charleston Southern, Charlotte, Detroit Mercy, Bethune-Cookman, and Eastern Michigan. Since then it’s been a 2-2 stretch with a pair of losses to George Mason and La Salle sandwiched around wins versus Duquesne and Fordham for a 12-5 overall record so far.
In the La Salle matchup on Wednesday, the Wildcats came out of halftime with a comfortable lead 41-33. Davidson was outscored in the second half 79-76 however, resulting in a 79-76 defeat in the end. Tops in scoring during the losing effort was Reed Bailey with 21 points, five rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Bobby Durkin added 20 points with eight rebounds, three assists, and one steal, while Connor Kochera put up 14 points with three steals.
Rhode Island Rams Betting Preview
Over on the Rhode Island side, they opened up on a great run over their first dozen games or so, but things have gotten significantly choppy since then in the record column. The Rams took out Fairfield, Holy Cross, Franklin Pierce, Lafayette, Charleston, Detroit, Texas Arlington, Yale, and Providence before a loss to Brown. A couple of wins over Central Connecticut and Temple came next, then a 2-3 stretch with wins over only George Mason and Richmond. Otherwise, it was losses to Duquesne, George Washington, and Loyola Chicago during that time for a 13-4 overall record through the first 17 games of the season.
Matched up against Loyola in their Wednesday outing, the Rams held a 39-38 edge going into the locker room. Rhode Island posted a 43-38 deficit the rest of the way, however, giving the team an 81-77 road loss. Sebastian Thomas was the leading scorer in that one with 20 points, six assists, and three rebounds. Javonte Brown added 16 points with five rebounds, and Cam Estevez came off the bench for 15 points, three rebounds and two assists in 32 minutes.
Why the Rhode Island Rams will win
- Rhode Island has won nine of its last 10 games at Thomas M. Ryan Center.
- Davidson has lost 10 of its last 12 day games against Conference opponents.
Why the Davidson Wildcats will win
- Rhode Island has lost six of its last seven games against Conference opponents at Thomas M. Ryan Center.
- Davidson has won five of its last six day games.
- Davidson has won the first half in six of its last eight day games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
Davidson vs Rhode Island Prediction
I’ll stick with Davidson, but you could call this one either way. The Wildcats certainly need a bounce-back effort after falling to a middling La Salle team in their last outing as well. Davidson shot well in that one (48.4 percent) but also got out-rebounded 39-33 and had 12 turnovers for 22 Explorers points. The Wildcats have continued to score well during this 4-2 run though, notching 74 or more points in five of the six games.
As for Rhode Island, they gave up 50 percent shooting to the Ramblers in their latest loss and had 12 turnovers for 13 Loyola points along the way. The Rams have been below 68 points in four of the last five games (a 2-3 run), so if Davidson can get their offense moving (and keep it moving), the Wildcats should be good to go on Saturday. Should be a fun matchup to watch regardless.