Southern Illinois vs Valparaiso Prediction 1/28/25 College Basketball Picks

The Southern Illinois Salukis and the Valparaiso Beacons meet Tuesday in college basketball action from the Athletics-Recreation Center. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Southern Illinois vs. Valparaiso prediction.

Southern Illinois Recap

The Southern Illinois Salukis come into this game looking to add on to their 89-85 win over UIC last time out to improve to 9-12 on the year. After this game, Southern Illinois will head home for a matchup with Drake.

Salukis Won 4th In the Last 5

Ali Dibba leads the Salukis in scoring with 16.7 PPG along with 4.4 RPG while Kennard Davis Jr. has 15 PPG with 5.3 RPG and a team-high 2.6 APG to lead the Salukis in the assist department up to this point. Jarrett Hensley also has 11.6 PPG with 5.4 RPG to lead the Salukis on the glass so far this season and to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for Southern Illinois. Sheridan Sharp also has a 2.6 APG of his own as well on the year. As a team, Southern Illinois is averaging 73.3 PPG on 45.5% shooting from the field, 32.8% from three, and 67.6% from the foul line this season.

Why the Southern Illinois Salukis will win

• Southern Illinois has won each of its last six games against Valparaiso.
• Valparaiso has lost 17 of its last 19 night games against the Missouri Valley Conference.

Valparaiso Recap

The Valparaiso Beacons come into this game looking to bounce back from a 78-68 loss at home at the hands of Evansville last time out to fall to 10-11 on the year. After this game, Valparaiso will head on the road for a matchup against Illinois State. 

Beacons Lose 5th In A Row

Cooper Schwieger leads the Beacons in scoring and rebounding with 14.3 PPG and 7.2 RPG while Jefferson De La Cruz Monegro has 11.4 PPG with 2 APG. Tyler Schmidt has 12.1 PPG and 3.4 RPG and All Wright has 11.4 PPG and 2.6 APG to round out the group of double-digit scorers for Valparaiso so far this season. Darius DeAveiro has a team-high 2.6 APG to lead the Beacons in assists while Devon Ellis has 6.4 PPG with 3 RPG and Kaspar Sapp also has 6.8 RPG as well this season. As a team, Valparaiso is averaging 76.9 PPG on 43.2% shooting from the field, 33.1% from three, and 78% from the foul line this season.

Why the Valparaiso Beacons will win

• Southern Illinois has lost five of its last six road night games against the Missouri Valley Conference.

Total Points Facts

• Each of the last 12 games between Southern Illinois and Valparaiso have produced a total of 145 or fewer points.
• Each of Southern Illinois’ last 12 Tuesday games against Conference opponents have produced a total of 147 or fewer points.

Southern Illinois vs. Valparaiso Prediction

I’m on Southern Illinois in this game. I get that the Salukis could be looking ahead a bit to a game against Drake on deck, but the problem here for Valpo is that they haven’t looked very good in a lot of their recent outings. And I don’t expect it to chance here against a Southern Illinois team that’s simply in much better form coming into this game. Valpo is looking like the Beacons that we’ve become accustomed to seeing in conference play in recent years, and I think that Southern Illinois takes advantage here. Give me Southern Illinois on the road in this one.