Illinois Fighting Illini vs Rutgers Scarlet Knights Prediction, 12/20/2020 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Illinois Fighting Illini vs Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Date: Sunday, December 20, 2020

Location: Rutgers Athletic Center in Piscataway, NJ

TV: ESPN2

Odds/Point Spread: Illinois (+1.5)

The Illinois Fighting Illini (5-2) travel to Rutgers Athletic Center on Sunday where they'll take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (5-0). Rutgers opens this matchup as 1.5-point favorites. The total has been set at 145.5.

Illinois enters this contest with a win-loss record of 5-2 this season. They cough up possession 15.1 times per contest and as a squad they commit 19.7 personal fouls per contest. As a team, Illinois is collecting 44.7 boards per contest and has accounted for 121 assists for the season, which is 27th in Division 1 in terms of passing the ball. The Fighting Illini are connecting on 43.2% on shots beyond the perimeter (54 of 125) and 67.9% from the charity stripe. They are averaging 88.3 points per game (21st in D-1) while hitting 53.7% from the floor. When they are on defense, the Fighting Illini are forcing 11.6 turnovers per game and they draw 20.3 personal fouls. The Fighting Illini defense is allowing and opponent field goal percentage of 38.6% (169 of 438) and they concede 27.7 rebounds per contest as a group. They currently rank 212th in D-1 in allowing assists to their opponents with 79 relinquished for the year. They surrender 27.8% on 3-point attempts and they are 125th in the country in points per game allowed (67.0).

The Illinois Fighting Illini took the court against the Minnesota Golden Gophers and walked away with a win by a score of 92-65 in their last game. Illinois finished the contest with a 53.1% FG percentage (34 out of 64) and converted 7 out of their 19 shots from downtown. At the free throw line, the Fighting Illini knocked down 17 of 25 attempts for a rate of 68.0%. In regard to grabbing rebounds, they compiled a total of 49 with 7 of them being on the offensive end. They also dished out 21 assists for the game while getting 2 steals and 2 rejections. Concerning defense, Illinois allowed 53.1% from the field on 34 of 64. Minnesota totaled 10 assists and 7 steals in this game. Furthurmore, the Golden Gophers pulled down 32 boards (10 offensive, 22 defensive) and got 2 blocks. Minnesota finished shooting 62.5% when shooting free throws by making 20 of 32 attempts. They also knocked down 7 of 28 attempts from beyond the perimeter.

Ayo Dosunmu is one guy who came through for this contest. He walked away with 10 points on 5 out of 14 shooting. He was on the court for 30 mins played and totaled 7 rebounds. Dosunmu finished the contest at 35.7% from the field and also dished out 5 dimes. An additional guy that saw a lot of minutes in the matchup for the Fighting Illini was Trent Frazier. He collected 3 rebounds and also earned 2 dimes. He shot 37.5% from the floor in the matchup by shooting 3-of-8 (10 points). Overall, Frazier played for 30 min.

Rutgers has a mark of 5-0 so far this season. As an offense, the Scarlet Knights are hitting on 52.0% from the field, which is 48th in the country. Rutgers has accounted for 405 pts for the year (81.0 per contest) and they pull down 43.4 boards per game. They are assisting teammates 19.0 times per game (23rd in college basketball) and they are losing possession via turnover 12.8 times per contest. The Scarlet Knights commit 15.4 fouls every game and they shoot 57.3% from the charity stripe. The Scarlet Knights on the defensive end are ranked 85th in D-1 in PPG surrendered with 64.6. The Rutgers defense allows 28.3% on shots from beyond the arc (34 of 120) and opponents are connecting on 67.9% of their free throw shots. They have allowed 12.4 dimes and 33.4 total rebounds per game, which has them ranked 147th and 108th in those categories. They are forcing 13.4 turnovers on a nightly basis and have let teams shoot 37.2% from the field (37th in D-1).

The last time they took the court, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights got the victory with a final of 74-60 when they faced the Maryland Terrapins. The Scarlet Knights were able to corral 28 defensive rebounds and 7 offensive boards for a total of 35 for this contest. They also rejected 5 attempts while earning 5 steals in this contest. The Terrapins committed 16 personal fouls for the contest which took the Scarlet Knights to the free throw line for a total of 16 attempts. They were able to make 7 of the free throw attempts for a percentage of 43.8%. When it comes to shots from beyond the arc, Rutgers made 9 out of 19 tries (47.4%). When all was said and done, the Scarlet Knights went 29 for 60 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 48.3%. The Scarlet Knights permitted the Terrapins to convert 21 out of their 61 tries from the floor which had them sitting at 34.4% for the game. They finished 20.0% from beyond the perimeter by hitting 4 of 20 and finished the game at 14 of 18 at the free throw line (77.8%). In the matter of team rebounding, Rutgers permitted Maryland to pull down 36 in total (11 on the offensive side).

Jacob Young was pivotal for the Scarlet Knights in this game. He converted 5 out of 11 for the matchup for a field goal percentage of 45.5%, which had him finishing with 11 points. Young pulled down 2 boards in his 35 mins and accumulated 3 assists in this matchup. One more player that was important for Rutgers was Ron Harper. He walked away with 27 points in 30 minutes on the hardwood via 10 of 17 from the floor in the game. Harper ended up shooting 58.8% from the floor while contributing 4 assists and 5 total rebounds.

So what is Tonights Parlay prediction?

Parlay's Pundit's Pick: Take Rutgers (-1.5) and under 145.5 points

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