Missouri and Saint Louis haven’t played this in-state rivalry game on the hardwood in 25 years! It was 2001 the last time the Tigers and Billikens faced off, and now both teams get a terrific early season measuring stick game.
Let’s breakdown a betting angle on this primetime Friday night college hoops matchup.
Missouri vs. Saint Louis prediction, preview (7pm ET – Saint Louis, MO*)
*Not on Saint Louis University campus. This is a neutral game downtown at Enterprise Center.
Both teams plowed through lesser competition in their season openers earlier in the week, but will test themselves on Friday night. The big news on the game is that Robby Avila was deemed eligible to return to college basketball on Thursday. The man of many nicknames played Summer League for the Lakers and was cut in training camp. Now he’s back for his fifth season of college hoops, and third year on the Billikens’ roster.
“Cream Abdul-Jabbar” averaged 12.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 35 games at Saint Louis last season. It provides the Billikens more veteran leadership on an already experienced roster. Trey Green, Quentin Jones, Amari McCottry, Ishan Sharma and Kellen Thames all return as contributors from last year’s NCAA Tournament team, along with Avila. A couple of key transfers are also in the mix. Saint Louis is a good team and a threat to win the A-10.
That said, Missouri might be really good. The Tigers bring back their own star that flirted with the NBA in Mark Mitchell. He averaged 18.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists last season, and dropped an efficient 11-point, 10-assist double-double in just 24 minutes in the season opener.
Mitchell is flanked by some high-end talent. Trent Pierce is in his fourth season with the Tigers and now a full-time starting big. Bryson Tiller was a starting big for Kansas last season, and averaged about eight points and six rebounds as a freshman. He transfers in and starts, and some other key transfers come off the bench. We’ll get to them, but let’s round out the starting five.
The Tigers got some highly touted freshman incoming this season. Toni Bryant is another big that Missouri started, and he scored 15 points to go with six boards in his college debut. Jason Crowe was the big get. Crowe comes in ranked a top-five prospect nationally, and he lived up to the hype in his debut — 23 points on 4-of-7 shooting from downtown.
Kennard Davis started for BYU last season, while Jamier Jones started most of his games with Providence last season. Both are luxury bench pieces for Mizzou. Oh yeah, and the Tigers also bring a 7-foot-5 center off the bench. Size is going to be a big advantage for them in this one.
Crowe is a 6’4″ guard, but the four other starters are all 6’9″ or bigger, along with more size off the bench. Missouri is just a great mix of veteran leadership, young talent, elite size and depth. I respect Saint Louis, but the Billikens should be outmatched in this one.
Missouri vs. Saint Louis pick, best bet
KenPom has this game as Missouri favored by five points. Not sure what I’m missing, but I believe the number is short on the Tigers. This will be a neutral crowd and a fun environment, and I like the better team to prevail. I’ll play on the short Mizzou ML.
College Basketball Pick: Missouri Moneyline (-130)
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