Saint Louis vs. Iona Prediction and Odds for Tuesday, December 6 (Back Yuri Collins and Billikens on the Road)
By Josh Yourish
Rick Pitino’s Iona Gaels are 4-2 on the season, and tonight they’ll host the 7-2 Saint Louis Bilikens. who have been much busier at the start of the year.
Saint Louis has tested themselves against two top 25 teams and those are their only two losses of the season. That pedigree could carry them on the road tonight.
Let’s get into the odds for this game and I’ll tell you how I’m betting this one tonight.
Saint Louis vs. Iona Odds, Spread and Total
Saint Louis vs. Iona Prediction and Pick
Saint Louis is a tournament team. Whether they win the Atlantic 10 in a couple of months or not, this is easily one of the 68 best teams in the country. They are 40th in KenPom and because of how well Yuri Collins has played this year, they might be even better than that.
Collins only averages 11.6 points a game, but he is a total throwback point guard. He’s averaging 11.9 assists, which is No. 1 in the entire country and he is the reason that they are 14th in KenPom's adjusted offense. The Bilikens can really score and have a balanced offensive attack with Gibson Jimerson as their shooter and leading scorer, and Javon Pickett and Javonte Perkins as secondary scoring options.
Iona can keep up if Saint Louis turns this into a track meet. They average 78.5 points and have an impressive 1-2 punch at the offensive end of the floor, when healthy. Daniss Jenkins leads them in scoring with 18.2 PPG, but Quinn Slazinski, second in scoring on the team hasn’t played since November 11th against Hofstra.
Saint Louis is a better team that has very recently played Auburn very close. Yuri Collins controls every game that he plays in and I’ll trust him to close things out down the stretch even on the road.
Pick: Saint Louis -1.5
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change