Southern Illinois vs Florida Prediction College Basketball Picks 11/22/24

The Southern Illinois Salukis and the Florida Gators meet Friday in college basketball action from O’Connell Center. Here’s a Southern Illinois vs Florida prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Southern Illinois vs Florida pick. We will examine:

The Southern Illinois Salukis’ recent form and player performance

The Florida Gators’ recent form and player performance

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Southern Illinois Salukis

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Florida Gators

Recent betting trends in games played between Southern Illinois and Florida

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

Southern Illinois Salukis Betting Preview

The Salukis’ season began with a 90-80 loss to Charleston on November 4, but they’d get back to .500 quickly with an 86-64 blowout win over Missouri S&T. Southern Illinois fell in the next game however, 85-78 versus Oklahoma State.

Matched up against North Dakota State, the Salukis secured another blowout win on Monday. After a 34-23 edge in the first half, Southern Illinois cruised on 35 more points in a 69-44 result. Ali Abdou Dibba topped the team with 17 points and seven boards.

Florida Gators Betting Preview

Over on the Florida side, they’ve gotten through five games without a blemish thus far. The Gators beat South Florida 98-83 and Jacksonville 81-60 in their first pair. After that came wins over Grambling State 86-62 and Florida State 87-74.

On Tuesday in the Florida A&M matchup, the Gators were up 46-22 by the break. Florida kept the pace from there on 38 more points for an 84-60 win. Will Richard led the team with his 20 points and seven rebounds.

Why the Florida Gators will win

• Florida has won each of its last 11 games at Exactech Arena at Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
• Southern Illinois has lost each of its last three away games when playing with a rest advantage.
• Southern Illinois has lost the first half in each of its last nine night games against AP-ranked opponents.

Why the Southern Illinois Salukis will win

• Southern Illinois has won each of its last nine Friday night games against non-conference opponents.

Southern Illinois vs Florida Prediction

I’m going to lean towards Florida. The Gators have looked good so far, notching a string of five straight double-digit wins. Florida demolished Florida A&M in their last outing with 41.2 percent shooting and a 47-36 rebounding edge. This will be another highly favorable matchup for the Gators.

As for Southern Illinois, they’ve been pretty erratic in the win/loss columns so far, but the good news is that they’ve scored a nice 69 or more points in all four games. The Salukis will be grossly overmatched in this one however and they’ll have to play perfect basketball in order to keep pace with the Gators.

Andrew Jett's Pick: Florida Gators -18