How and what to watch for No. 22 Saint Louis vs. Richmond

UPDATE 5:00 p.m. This game has been postponed due to COVID-19 issues at Richmond. Saint Louis still hasn’t played a game since December 23rd.

In the first of only two Top-25 games on Friday night, the No. 22-ranked Saint Louis Billikens will go on the road to play the Richmond Spiders. Despite being ranked by the AP, St. Louis is second to last in the Atlantic 10 standings due to multiple games postponed.

The Billikens (7-2, 0-1) enter Friday night’s conference matchup off of a 76-71 loss to the Dayton Flyers on Tuesday night. It was St. Louis’s first game since Dec. 23, where they defeated the UM Kansas City Roos 62-46. Against Dayton guard Javonte Perkins produced a team-high 20 points, to go along with four rebounds and three assists. Perkins is St. Louis’ leading scorer this season, averaging 18 points per game.

The Spiders (10-4, 4-2) have won three of their last five, including a 23-point victory over the St. Joe’s Hawks on Tuesday. Tyler Burton is Richmond’s top rebounder, and led them in scoring with 25 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the field and 3-of-6 shooting from behind the arc. As a team the Spiders did a great job on offense, shooting an impressive 50.8 percent from the field, and held the Hawks to 38 percent shooting from the field and forcing them into 18 turnovers.

Game Time/TV Channel/Streaming

You can watch Saint Louis vs. Richmond on Friday, January 29th at 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2, or you can watch via the ESPN app with a cable or streaming service login. If you don’t have a cable login to access the ESPN app, you can get a free trial from YouTube TV, Hulu with Live TV, AT&T TV Now, FuboTV, or Sling TV to stream it.

Point Spread, Totals, Odds, Trends

Point spread: Richmond -1.5
Point total: 145.5
Money line: Saint Louis +104, Richmond -124

Betting Splits (Updated 2:15 p.m.)

Saint Louis: 57% of handle, 46% of bets
Richmond: 43% of handle, 54% of bets

• St. Louis has a record of 2-3 in their last five games against the spread, overall they are 6-3 ATS.
• Meanwhile, the point total has gone over in seven of St. Louis’s nine games.
• Unlike the Billikens, the Spiders have had better success against the spread with a record of 3-2. But at home this season, Richmond has not played well to cover with a 2-4 record against the spread.
• Dating back to last season, the point total has gone over in six of Richmond’s last eight home games.

The Best Bet

Even though we are only a few days away from February, it’s still tough to get a gauge on what will happen in this game. The Spiders have won three out of their last five games in convincing fashion. But they had a couple of clunkers mixed in against La Salle and St. Bonaventure. As for St. Louis, this will only be their second A-10 game due to multiple postponements because of COVID-19. Therefore I’m thinking the best play might be over because both teams can score points.

Pick: Over 144.5

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