Illinois Fighting Illini vs Missouri Tigers Prediction, 12/12/2020 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Illinois Fighting Illini vs Missouri Tigers

Date: Saturday, December 12, 2020

Location: Mizzou Arena in Columbia, MO

TV: SECN Alt

Odds/Point Spread: Illinois (-1.5)

The Illinois Fighting Illini (4-1) are headed to Mizzou Arena on Saturday where they'll meet the Missouri Tigers (4-0). The spread on this matchup has Illinois as 1.5-point favorites. The O/U has been set at 143.

Illinois will enter this matchup with a mark of 4-1 on the season. They are giving up possession 15.8 times per game and as a unit they commit 17.2 personal fouls every game. As a team, Illinois is collecting 46.8 rebounds per contest and has 90 dimes so far this year, which is 30th in the country in terms of passing. The Fighting Illini are hitting 47.3% on shots from beyond the arc (44 of 93) and 69.6% from the charity stripe. They currently have an average of 89.6 pts per contest (22nd in college hoops) while connecting on 54.0% from the field. When they are on the defensive end, the Fighting Illini are able to force 10.8 turnovers per contest and they draw 19.2 personal fouls. They are 211th in college basketball in giving up assists to their opponents with 60 surrendered for the year. The Fighting Illini defense is allowing a shooting percentage of 39.6% (125 of 316) and they concede 24.8 boards per game as a group. They are surrendering 29.4% on shots from downtown while they are 87th in college hoops in points per game allowed (64.6).

The Illinois Fighting Illini faced off with the Duke Blue Devils and notched a win by a score of 83-68 in their last contest. Illinois finished having earned a 58.0% field goal percentage (29 of 50) and made 7 out of their 11 three-point attempts. From the free throw line, the Fighting Illini buried 18 of 24 attempts for a percentage of 75.0%. Concerning pulling down boards, they collected a total of 35 with 3 of them being offensive. They also recorded 13 assists for this game in addition to earning 7 steals and 5 rejections. With regard to the defense, Illinois allowed 58.0% from the field on 29 out of 50. Duke earned 14 dimes and 8 steals for the contest. Moreover, the Blue Devils totaled 31 rebounds (10 offensive, 21 defensive) and added 5 blocks. Duke finished the game shooting 56.3% from the charity stripe by converting 9 of their 16 tries. They also converted 5 out of their 22 shots from beyond the perimeter.

Ayo Dosunmu is one player who was a major contributor in this contest. He totaled 18 points on 6 out of 11 shooting. He was on the court for 36 mins and also pulled down 12 boards. Dosunmu went 54.5% from the floor and distributed 5 assists. Someone else that had an impact in this game for the Fighting Illini was Trent Frazier. He pulled down 3 rebounds and also totaled 3 dimes. He finished 60.0% from the floor in this matchup by hitting 3-of-5 (10 points). When the game finished, Frazier was on the court for 35 minutes.

Missouri has a mark of 4-0 so far this year. Missouri has accounted for 315 pts so far this year (78.8 per game) and they pull in 39.5 rebounds per game. The Tigers commit 17.8 personal fouls per game and they go 73.1% from the free throw line. As an offensive team, the Tigers are shooting 49.6% from the floor, which ranks them 87th in college basketball. They are earning an assist 15.5 times per game (99th in college basketball) and they lose possession via turnover 12.3 times per contest. The Tigers on defense are ranked 99th in college hoops in PPG given up with 65.3. The Missouri defense gives up 26.4% on 3-pointers (28 of 106) and their opposition makes 75.3% of their shots from the charity stripe. They surrender 10.0 dimes and 32.5 boards on a nightly basis, which has them ranked 48th and 77th in those categories on the defensive end. They have forced 10.5 TO's per game and have let teams shoot 36.3% from the floor (32nd in college hoops).

In their last game, the Missouri Tigers went home victorious with a score of 69-60 against the Liberty Flames. The Tigers recorded 28 defensive rebounds and 8 offensive boards totaling 36 in the game. They also rejected 2 shots while recording 3 steals for the contest. The Flames were called for 22 fouls for this game which took the Tigers to the free throw line for 21 tries. They were able to knock down 14 of the free throw attempts for a percentage of 66.7%. In terms of 3-pointers, Missouri buried 5 of their 16 tries (31.3%). At the conclusion of this game, the Tigers walked away from this one shooting 25 for 49 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 51.0%. The Tigers allowed the Flames to make 18 out of their 50 attempts from the field which had them at 36.0% for the contest. They shot 28.0% from behind the 3-point line by shooting 7 of 25 and finished the contest at 17 out of 22 at the free throw line (77.3%). When it comes to how they cleaned up the glass, Missouri permitted Liberty to get 22 overall (5 on the offensive glass).

Mark Smith ended up playing a lot for the Tigers for the matchup. He converted 5 of 12 for the contest giving him a rate of 41.7%, which had him finishing with 17 points. Smith totaled 4 rebounds in his 36 mins and had 2 assists in this game. Someone else who saw a lot of action for Missouri was Dru Smith. He ended up walking away with 14 points in 34 minutes played via 4 out of 11 shooting for this game. Smith ended the game having shot 36.4% from the field as well as earning 2 assists and 2 total rebounds.

Who will win tonight's college basketball game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Illinois (-1.5)

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