Normally I prefer to take points when getting involved in a Missouri Valley Conference matchup since it's a tough, grind-out, defensive-minded conference.

But I'm going to make an exception here and back Bradley at home. The Braves are 8-0 at Carver Arena this season. Their average winning margin at home is 17.3 points per game. The Braves have been huge money-makers at Carver Arena for quite a while now covering 84 percent of their past 26 home contests.

Southern Illinois is down three rotation players due to injuries and has been dealing with a flu problem. The Salukis have only been able to practice with seven players during the last two days because of the flu problem.

The Salukis also have a poor track record in this situation failing to cover in six of their last eight away matchups and going 2-7 ATS versus above .500 opponents. Bradley is 12-5, but coming off an embarrassing 68-44 road loss to Evansville. The Braves had defeated Valparaiso, 80-71, at home during their previous game.

Southern Illinois just played at Valparaiso this past Saturday and lost, 83-72.