Minnesota Golden Gophers vs Illinois Fighting Illini Prediction, 12/15/2020 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Minnesota Golden Gophers vs Illinois Fighting Illini

Date: Tuesday, December 15, 2020

Location: State Farm Center in Champaign, IL

TV: ESPN2

Odds/Point Spread: Minnesota (+8)

The Minnesota Golden Gophers (6-0) travel to State Farm Center on Tuesday where they'll meet the Illinois Fighting Illini (4-2). Minnesota opens this contest as 8-point dogs. The over/under has been set at 150.

Minnesota will play this contest with a win-loss record of 6-0 this season. They turn it over 11.0 times per game and as a squad they commit 18.8 fouls every game. As a team, Minnesota is pulling in 39.8 boards per contest and has earned 104 dimes so far this season, which has them ranked 27th in the nation in terms of passing. The Golden Gophers are shooting 29.2% on three-point shots (38 of 130) and 73.5% from the charity stripe. They are averaging 84.2 points per game (42nd in Division 1) while hitting 44.7% from the field. Defensively, the Golden Gophers are able to force 17.3 turnovers per contest and they draw 25.0 personal fouls. They are ranked 232nd in Division 1 in giving up assists to their opponents with 74 relinquished this season. The Golden Gophers defense is giving up and opponent field goal percentage of 40.0% (146 of 365) and they surrender 37.8 boards per game as a unit. They give up 32.8% on shots from beyond the perimeter and they rank 156th in college basketball in points per game from their opponents (69.0).

The Minnesota Golden Gophers played the UMKC Kangaroos and earned the victory with a final of 90-61 in their last game. Minnesota walked away from the game with a 46.2% field goal percentage (24 of 52) and knocked down 8 of their 24 shots from beyond the arc. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Golden Gophers made 34 of 44 tries for a percentage of 77.3%. Regarding grabbing rebounds, they earned 38 with 9 of them being of the offensive variety. They also dished out 18 assists in this contest while getting 4 steals and 9 blocked shots. Regarding defending, Minnesota allowed 46.2% from the field on 24 out of 52. UMKC doled out 14 assists and 4 steals for the game. Furthurmore, the Kangaroos grabbed 31 rebounds (9 offensive, 22 defensive) and added 9 blocks. UMKC walked away from this one shooting 42.1% at the charity stripe by knocking down 8 of 19 attempts. They also knocked down 7 of 17 tries from distance.

Marcus Carr is someone who had an impact for this contest. He had 15 points on 3 out of 7 shooting. He was on the court for 31 minutes played and snagged 2 rebounds. Carr finished the game shooting 42.9% from the floor and also dished out 7 assists. Another guy that was a major factor in this contest for the Golden Gophers was Gabe Kalscheur. He totaled 2 rebounds and collected 2 dimes. He ended up going 28.6% from the floor for the matchup by shooting 2-of-7 (10 points). When this game wrapped up, Kalscheur saw the court for 27 minutes.

Illinois has a win-loss mark of 4-2 on the campaign. The Fighting Illini are committing 18.5 fouls every game and they go 67.9% from the free throw line. They are earning an assist 16.7 times per game (59th in Division 1) and they turn it over 15.3 times per contest. Illinois has scored 526 pts so far this season (87.7 per contest) and they pull down 43.3 boards per contest. As an offense, the Fighting Illini are shooting 53.8% from the floor, which is ranked 44th in the country. The Fighting Illini on the defensive side of the court are 129th in Division 1 in points allowed per contest with 67.3. The Illinois defense allows 28.5% on shots from beyond the arc (35 of 123) and their opponents are knocking down 62.2% of their foul shots. They have relinquished 11.5 dimes and 26.5 rebounds per contest, ranking them 103rd and 7th in college basketball. They are able to force 12.0 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 40.7% from the field (115th in D-1).

When they last stepped on the hardwood, the Illinois Fighting Illini took a defeat with a final score of 81-78 when they played the Missouri Tigers. The Fighting Illini recorded 18 defensive boards and 2 offensive boards totaling 20 in the game. They also turned away 2 shots while getting 9 steals for this contest. The Tigers were called for 27 personal fouls for this game which took the Fighting Illini to the charity stripe for 28 tries. They were able to convert 17 of those for a rate of 60.7%. In the matter of 3-point attempts, Illinois made 3 of their 13 tries (23.1%). When the final whistle blew, the Fighting Illini went 29 for 55 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 52.7%. The Fighting Illini allowed the Tigers to bury 25 out of 53 attempts from the floor which gave them a percentage of 47.2% in the matchup. They went 23.8% from three-point range by connecting on 5 of 21 and walked away from this one shooting 26 of 31 at the free throw line (83.9%). When discussing rebounds, Illinois permitted Missouri to collect 31 in all (7 on the offensive side).

Ayo Dosunmu ended up being a factor for the Fighting Illini in this contest. He converted 13 out of 20 in the game for a field goal percentage of 65.0%, which earned him 36 points. Dosunmu snagged 5 rebounds in his 38 minutes played and had 2 dimes for this contest. Another guy who saw a lot of action for Illinois was Kofi Cockburn. He left the arena with 19 points in his 31 minutes on the court via 8 out of 10 from the floor in this game. Cockburn finished going 80.0% from the floor while contributing 2 dimes and 6 rebounds.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Minnesota (+8)

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