Western Kentucky vs Florida International Prediction College Basketball Picks 1/4/25

The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers and the Florida International Panthers meet Saturday in college basketball action from FIU Arena. Here’s a Western Kentucky vs Florida International prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Western Kentucky vs Florida International pick. We will examine:

The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers’ recent form and player performance

The Florida International Panthers’ recent form and player performance

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Florida International Panthers

Recent betting trends in games played between Western Kentucky and Florida International

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Western Kentucky vs Florida International game

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Betting Preview

The Hilltoppers kicked off their 2024-25 season with a couple of losses but quickly got back on track. Western Kentucky fell versus Wichita State and Grand Canyon in the first pair before wins over Campbellsville, Lipscomb, and Jackson State. A loss to Kentucky ensued afterward, then came wins over Marshall, Evansville, Tennessee State, Murray State, Seattle U, and Kentucky Wesleyan. Following another blowout loss—this time versus Michigan—the Hilltoppers were able to bounce back against Liberty for a 10-4 overall record so far.

In the Liberty game on Thursday, Western Kentucky came out of halftime looking at a 35-21 deficit and sensed trouble. The Hilltoppers got it going in the second half however, surging on a 50-35 run for an excellent comeback victory 71-70 in the end. Leading the team in the comeback was Julius Thedford with 18 points, five rebounds, one steal, and one block. Tyrone Marshall added 12 points and eight rebounds, while Khristian Lander came off the bench to chip in 10 points with three boards. Enoch Kalambay added seven bench points as well.

Florida International Panthers Betting Preview

Over on the Florida International side, they stumbled out of the gate this year with a 1-4 start across their first five games. The lone win was versus Florida National; otherwise, it was losses to Rice, Southern Utah, Howard, and Northeastern at that time. The Panthers managed another win over Cal State Bakersfield before losses to Florida Gulf Coast and Florida Atlantic, then took out New College FL, and Stetson. It’s been a 2-2 run since then with losses to East Carolina and Middle Tennessee in between wins over IUPUI and Utah Tech.

In the Middle Tennessee game back on Thursday, the Panthers came out of the gate with a 35-32 edge in the first half and were looking pretty good. FIU finished off the second half on a 41-34 deficit, however, and ended up losing 73-69 in the end. Leading the way in the loss was Vianney Salatchoum with his 21 points and five rebounds. Asim Jones added 15 points with five assists, four rebounds, two steals, and two blocks, while Dashon Gittens also managed double-figures with 10 points. Travis Gray came off the bench for nine points as well.

Why the Florida International Panthers will win

• The home team has won nine of the last 10 games between Western Kentucky and Florida International.
• Western Kentucky has lost four of its last five games at Ocean Bank Convocation Center against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Western Kentucky has lost the first half in each of its last four road day games against Conference opponents.

Why the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers will win

• Western Kentucky has won each of its last seven games following a road win.
• Florida International has lost 21 of its last 24 day games against Conference opponents.
• Western Kentucky has won the first half in three of its last four games against Florida International.

Western Kentucky vs Florida International Prediction

I’ll likely just stick with Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers could use a much better start than they got against Liberty in their last game, however. That said, WKU gets credit for the comeback win in the second thanks to 45.2 percent shooting and a 45-35 rebounding edge. The 3-point shooting (29.4 percent) could have been better though, and the foul shooting (52.6 percent) was pretty rough. The 14 turnovers didn’t help, either. All of that said, Western Kentucky has 68 or more points in all but two games so far this year and should score pretty well here also.

As for Florida International, they faded against Middle Tennessee in their last game despite hitting 50.9 percent from the field with a 33-29 rebounding edge. The Panthers coughed up 20 turnovers for 19 Raiders points, which proved to be the difference in that game. The good news is that FIU is scoring well lately, but I don’t think they’ll keep pace with WKU.