UIC vs Southern Illinois Prediction 2/8/25 College Basketball Picks

The UIC Flames and the Southern Illinois Salukis meet Saturday in college basketball action from the Banterra Center. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a UIC vs. Southern Illinois prediction.

UIC Recap

The UIC Flames come into this game looking to bounce back from an 81-79 loss at the hands of Illinois State last time out to fall to 14-9 on the year. After this game, UIC will head on the road once again and take on Murray State.

Flames Lose Back-To-Back Games

Javon Jackson leads the Flames in scoring with 13.3 PPG along with 3 APG and 1.7 SPG while Sasa Ciani has 11.2 PPG with a team-high 8.8 RPG to lead the Flames on the glass so far this season. Ahmad Henderson II has 12.1 PPG with 3.2 RPG and 3 APG while Tyem Freeman added 10.3 PPG with 4 RPG. Jordan Mason added 11 PPG with 3.5 RPG and a team-high 3.5 APG to lead the Flames in assists and to cap off the scoring in double figures for UIC so far this season. Filip Skobalj has 9.8 PPG with 3.5 RPG while Modestas Kancleris also has 7.6 PPG with 6.6 RPG as well on the year. As a team, UIC is averaging 80.8 PPG on 47.5% shooting from the field, 36.6% from three, and 71.5% from the foul line this season.

Why the UIC Flames will win

• The road team has won each of UIC’s last six games.
• Southern Illinois has lost each of its last four day games against the Missouri Valley Conference at Banterra Center.

Southern Illinois Recap

The Southern Illinois Salukis come into this game looking to add on to their 68-59 win over Evansville last time out to sit at 11-13 on the year. After this game, Southern Illinois will head on the road for a matchup with the Bradley Braves.

Salukis Won 6 Of Their Last 8

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

• UIC has lost four of its last five day games.
• Southern Illinois has won seven of its last eight Saturday games against the Missouri Valley Conference.

UIC vs. Southern Illinois Prediction

I’m with UIC in this game. I’m not loving the back-to-back losses for UIC coming into this game, but UIC has been weird this year, to where they haven’t been winning at home, but they’ve been the best in the MVC on the road and the same goes for Southern Illinois, who have won three straight on the road (including a win in the first meeting with UIC) but have lost back-to-back home games. I think that UIC is the better team here and the Flames have also proven to me that they can be trusted to back on the road. I’ll back UIC here in the pick ‘em spot.