The Saint Louis Billikens and the George Washington Colonials meet in college basketball action from the Charles E. Smith Center on Saturday.
The Saint Louis Billikens will try to build on back-to-back wins after a 63-62 win over George Mason last time out. Gibson Jimerson leads the Billikens in scoring with 13.1 PPG while Yuri Collins has 12 PPG with a team-high 10.9 APG to lead the Billikens in assists, averaging a double-double per game this season. Javon Pickett has 10.6 PPG with 5.9 RPG to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for Saint Louis up to this point in the year. Francis Okoro has 6.6 PPG and a team-high 8.6 RPG to lead the Billikens on the glass this season. As a team, Saint Louis is averaging 76.3 PPG on 45% shooting from the field, 33.1% from three and 74.5% from the foul line this season.
The George Washington Colonials will be looking to build on an 81-73 win over UMass in their last game. James Bishop leads the Colonials in scoring and assists with 22.3 PPG and 5 APG while Brendan Adams has 16.2 PPG with 4.1 RPG and 2.7 APG this season. Ricky Lindo Jr. has 10.3 PPG and a team-high 6.9 RPG to lead the Colonials on the glass and to round out the trio of double-digit scorers for GW this season. As a team, George Washington is averaging 75.5 PPG on 47.8% shooting from the field, 31.6% from three and 74.8% from the foul line up to this point in the season.
Saint Louis is 1-5 ATS in their last 6 road games and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games overall while the over is 6-2 in their last 8 Saturday games. George Washington is 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games against a team with a winning percentage above .600 and 4-1-1 ATS in their last 6 Saturday games while the over is 4-1 in their last 5 games overall.
I get the case to be made for either side in this game, but I’m leaning towards Saint Louis here. The Billikens have had a lot of recent success in this matchup, winning five straight and the only reason they didn’t cover the last two was because they were laying an extreme number in the last pair of meetings. The Billikens are the far more complete team here and I think they get the win and cover. Give me Saint Louis.