Southern Illinois vs UIC Prediction 1/25/25 College Basketball Picks

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

The Southern Illinois Salukis’ recent form and player performance

The UIC Flames’ recent form and player performance

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Southern Illinois Salukis

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the UIC Flames

Recent betting trends in games played between Southern Illinois and UIC

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

Southern Illinois Salukis Betting Preview

It’s been a rough stretch of games for the Salukis so far. They’ve been at or below the .500 mark all season long, though a good run of wins would get them right back into position. Southern Illinois went 5-6 over their first 11 outings with wins over Missouri S&T, North Dakota State, Florida Tech, Southern Indiana, and Austin Peay alongside losses to Charleston, Oklahoma State, Florida, Louisiana Tech, Eastern Kentucky, and Bradley. Since then it’s been a 3-6 stretch for the Salukis. The three wins came over Missouri State (twice) and Northern Iowa. Otherwise, it was losses to High Point, Northern Iowa, Evansville, Illinois State, Belmont, and Murray State. The result was an 8-12 overall record through the first 20 games of the year.

In the Murray State matchup on Wednesday, the Salukis came out of halftime looking at a two-point deficit on the scoreboard. Southern Illinois didn’t end up getting any closer than that, notching a 40-32 deficit on the way to a 74-64 loss. Leading the team in scoring was Ali Dibba with 21 points and six boards. Kennard Davis added 20 points with seven rebounds as well.

UIC Flames Betting Preview

Over on the Flames’ side, they came out of the gate with a pretty spotty .500 run over their first eight games. UIC has done much better since early December, though. The Flames beat St. Francis IL, Yale, Saint Mary’s MN, and La Salle with losses otherwise to Northwestern, James Madison, East Carolina, and Northern Iowa in that opening eight-game run. After a winning streak over Dartmouth, Little Rock, Seattle U, Illinois State, and Drake, the Flames fell to Belmont and Bradley (with a win over Missouri State) in the next trio. Since then it’s been three wins over Murray State, Valparaiso, and Evansville for a 13-6 record through the first 19 outings.

Matched up against Evansville in their Wednesday outing, the Flames hit a 47-32 opening run in the first half. UIC was outscored 35-31 the rest of the way in an eventual win 78-67. Jordan Mason added 19 points with five assists, four rebounds and two steals. Ahmad Henderson had a great effort off the bench in the win, notching 16 points and three boards in 22 minutes.

Why the UIC Flames will win

• Southern Illinois has lost each of its last four day games against the Missouri Valley Conference.
• UIC has won nine of its last 11 games against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Why the Southern Illinois Salukis will win

• Southern Illinois has won each of its last six Saturday games against Conference opponents.
• UIC has lost seven of its last eight Saturday games against Conference opponents.
• Southern Illinois has won the first half in three of its last four games against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Southern Illinois vs UIC Prediction

I’m staying with UIC. The Flames didn’t have too many issues versus a struggling Evansville team in their last outing, despite coughing up 12 turnovers for 16 Aces points. UIC shot 48.1 percent from the field with a 40-30 rebounding edge but could have been better from the line (15-of-23 for 65.2 percent). It’s been a nice three-game win streak for the Flames. They’ve hit 78 or more points in each one of those victories.

As for Southern Illinois, they gave up 49.1 percent shooting in their last loss to Murray State and got out-rebounded 36-30. That defeat halted a pretty solid three-game win streak though. Southern Illinois had 73 or more points in each of those games. All things considered, however, I don’t think the Salukis have the gas to keep up with UIC if the Flames play to their capabilities on offense.