Jacksonville (16-12) vs Eastern Kentucky (17-12)
February 24, 2025 at 07:00 PM EST
The Line: Betting Odds: Jacksonville -3.5 — Over/Under: 149.5
The Eastern Kentucky Colonels and the Jacksonville Dolphins meet Monday in college basketball action from the Swisher Gymnasium. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s an Eastern Kentucky vs. Jacksonville prediction.
Matchup History
Jacksonville won the first meeting between these two teams this season by a final score of 82-75 at Eastern Kentucky on January 11th, 2025. The win made it back-to-back Ws for Jacksonville in this head-to-head matchup.
Eastern Kentucky Recap
The Eastern Kentucky Colonels come into this game fresh off of an 80-74 loss at the hands of Bellarmine last time out to sit at 17-12 on the year. After this game, Eastern Kentucky will close out the regular season with a matchup against North Florida.
Colonels Looking To Rebound After Having Eight-Game Win Streak Snapped
George Kimble III leads Eastern Kentucky in scoring and assists with 18 PPG and 3.2 APG along with 3.7 RPG and 2.6 SPG while Devontae Blanton has 16.3 PPG with 6.4 RPG as the only other double-digit scorer for Eastern Kentucky up to this point in the year. Jordan Crawford has 7.8 PPG while Mayar Wol has 9 PPG with 4.8 RPG and Montavious Myrick has a team-high 7.9 RPG of his own to lead the Colonels in rebounding. Turner Buttry also has 8.8 PPG for the Colonels so far this season. As a team, Eastern Kentucky is averaging 78.7 PPG on 42.4% shooting from the field, 34.7% from three-point range, and 75.2% from the foul line this season.
Why the Eastern Kentucky Colonels will win
- Eastern Kentucky has won eight of its last nine games.
- Jacksonville has lost each of its last three games.
Jacksonville Recap
The Jacksonville Dolphins come into this game looking to bounce back from a 77-73 loss at the hands of North Florida last time out to sit at 16-12 on the year. After this game, Jacksonville will welcome Stetson to town to close out the regular season.
Dolphins Lose Third In A Row
Robert McCray V leads the Dolphins in scoring with 16.5 PPG and in assists with 4.4 APG as well as 4.6 RPG as the lone double-digit scorer for the Dolphins up to this point in the year. Zimi Nwokeji has 9.3 PPG with 4.3 RPG while Zach Bell has 8.9 PPG as well on the year. Jakari Spence has chipped in 8 PPG with 4 RPG and 3.9 APG while Stephon Payne III has 8.3 PPG with a team-high 6.5 RPG to lead the Dolphins on the glass up to this point in the year. Kendall Munson also contributed 8.9 PPG with 5.1 RPG as well this season. As a team, Jacksonville is averaging 72.5 PPG on 44.1% shooting from the field, 36.7% from three, and 67.6% from the foul line this season.
Why the Jacksonville Dolphins will win
- Jacksonville has won 11 of its last 12 games at Swisher Gymnasium following a road loss.
Total Points Facts
- Nine of Eastern Kentucky’s last 10 road games have produced a total of 151+ points.
- Thirty of Jacksonville’s last 34 night games against Conference opponents at Swisher Gymnasium have produced a total of 149 or fewer points.
Eastern Kentucky vs. Jacksonville Prediction
I’m looking at Eastern Kentucky here between two teams that could really use a bounce-back performance here. The Colonels for me are still the more trustworthy offensive unit coming into this game and while a lot of Jacksonville’s recent losses have come on the road, before their road trip, the Dolphins had actually lost three straight at home, so it’s just hard overall to back the Dolphins right now. The Colonels have the ability to put up points in bunches and they’ve been more than respectable on the road so give me EKU in this one.