Who’s Playing
Western Illinois Leathernecks @ SIUE Cougars
Current Records: Western Illinois 7-6, SIUE 8-6
How To Watch
What to Know
We’ve got another exciting Ohio Valley matchup on schedule as the Western Illinois Leathernecks and the SIUE Cougars are set to tip at 4:30 p.m. ET on December 31st at First Community Arena. SIUE is favored, but seeing as the odds didn’t stop Western Illinois in their last game, maybe the team has another upset up their sleeve.
Western Illinois came tearing into last Wednesday’s matchup with three straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 22.3 points) and they left with even more momentum. They came out on top against the Bears by a score of 65-54. Winning is a bit easier when your three-point shooting is a whole 31% better than the opposition, as Western Illinois’ was.
Meanwhile, the Cougars earned a 67-58 victory over the Panthers on Friday.
The Leathernecks have been performing well recently as they’ve won five of their last six games, which provided a nice bump to their 7-6 record this season. As for the Cougars, they pushed their record up to 8-6 with that victory, which was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season.
The pair pleased both fans and bettors in their last contests by winning and covering the spread. Looking ahead to Sunday, SIUE is the favorite in this one, as the experts expect to see them win by seven points. They might be worth a quick bet since they’re sitting on a four game streak of covering the spread when expected to win.
Western Illinois took their win against SIUE in their previous matchup back in November of 2018 by a conclusive 83-58. The rematch might be a little tougher for Western Illinois since the team won’t have the home-court advantage this time around. We’ll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Odds
SIUE is a solid 7-point favorite against Western Illinois, according to the latest college basketball odds.
The line has drifted a bit towards the Cougars, as the game opened with the Cougars as a 5.5-point favorite.
The over/under is set at 133.5 points.
See college basketball picks for every single game, including this one, from SportsLine’s advanced computer model. Get picks now.
Series History
Western Illinois has won both of the games they’ve played against SIUE in the last 6 years.
- Nov 28, 2018 – Western Illinois 83 vs. SIUE 58
- Nov 22, 2017 – Western Illinois 69 vs. SIUE 67
