Sam Houston State (8-12) vs Western Kentucky (11-8)
January 25, 2025 at 03:30 PM EST
The Line: Betting Odds: Sam Houston State -3 — Over/Under: 155
The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers and the Sam Houston State Bearkats meet Saturday in college basketball action from Johnson Coliseum. Here’s a Western Kentucky vs Sam Houston prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Western Kentucky vs Sam Houston pick. We will examine:
The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers’ recent form and player performance
The Sam Houston Bearkats’ recent form and player performance
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Sam Houston Bearkats
Recent betting trends in games played between Western Kentucky and Sam Houston
A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Western Kentucky vs Sam Houston game
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Betting Preview
The Hilltoppers had a very nice run of wins going in December, but outside of that, it’s been a pretty choppy season so far. Western Kentucky kicked things off with a 3-3 stretch, falling to Wichita State, Grand Canyon, and Kentucky during that time. Wins over Marshall, Evansville, Tennessee State, Murray State, Seattle U, and Kentucky Wesleyan came next, but it’s been a rough 2-5 run since then. The Hilltoppers beat Liberty and Kennesaw State during that time, but otherwise fell to Michigan, FIU, Jacksonville State, Middle Tennessee, and Louisiana Tech. The result was an 11-8 overall record through the first 19 games of the season for WKU.
In the Louisiana Tech game on Thursday, the Hilltoppers came out of the break looking up at a 33-28 deficit on the scoreboard. Western Kentucky hit a 44-39 deficit the rest of the way and eventually fell 77-67 in the end. Leading the team in scoring was Don McHenry with 21 points, three boards, and four assists. Tyrone Marshall added 13 points with eight rebounds as well. Tops off the bench was Blaise Keita with eight points and five rebounds.
Sam Houston State Bearkats Betting Preview
Over on the Bearkats’ side, they were above .500 as the calendar flipped over to 2025, but they’ve had a rough time finding wins since then. Sam Houston opened with a 7-6 stretch, taking out Tarleton State, Lamar, Trinity TX, Colgate, Texas Southern, St. Thomas TX, and Dallas along the way. Over the past seven games, Sam Houston has hit the skids on a 1-6 run. The lone win came over Florida International. Otherwise, it was losses to New Mexico State, UTEP, Liberty, Kennesaw State, Jacksonville State, and Middle Tennessee, giving the Bearkats an 8-12 overall record through 20 games so far this year.
Matched up against Middle Tennessee in their latest outing on Thursday, Sam Houston was doing well on a 38-36 advantage going into the second half. The Bearkats were outpaced 41-37 the rest of the way, however, and lost 77-75 in the end. Leading the team was Marcus Boykin with 22 points, eight assists, and six boards. Lamar Wilkerson added 20 points with there rebounds and two assists, while Kalifa Sakho doubled up on 12 points and 11 rebounds with one assist and two blocks in 30 minutes of action.
Why the Sam Houston State Bearkats will win
- Sam Houston State has won each of its last 13 day games at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum against non-AP-ranked opponents.
- Western Kentucky has lost six of its last seven road games against Conference opponents.
- Western Kentucky has lost the first half in each of its last five road day games against Conference opponents.
Why the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers will win
- Sam Houston State has lost seven of its last eight games against Conference opponents.
- Western Kentucky has won five of its last six day games.
Western Kentucky vs Sam Houston Prediction
I’m going to stay with Sam Houston. I’m probably not touching this one, though; neither team looks good right now. The Bearkats had a 37-29 rebounding advantage and shot pretty well (43.1 percent) in their latest loss against a good Middle Tennessee squad. Sam Houston gave up quite a bit on the other side though (47.4 percent) and couldn’t keep pace.
As for WKU, they’ve been mired in a bit of a scoring slump lately with fewer than 68 points in four of the last five games. The Hilltoppers are similarly giving up a lot on defense, so we should have a pretty high total here if all goes well. In the end, I like Sam Houston slightly better, but it’s close.