Illinois Fighting Illini vs Missouri Tigers Prediction, 12/22/2021 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Illinois Fighting Illini vs Missouri Tigers

Date: Wednesday, December 22, 2021

Location: Enterprise Center in St. Louis, MO

TV: ESPN+

The Illinois Fighting Illini (8-3) are on their way to Enterprise Center on Wednesday where they will attempt to defeat the Missouri Tigers (6-5).

The Illinois Fighting Illini played Saint Francis and took home the win by a score of 106-48 in their last contest. When discussing personal fouls, the Fighting Illini finished with 15 and Saint Francis accumulated 10 personal fouls. They buried 6 out of their 18 tries from 3-point range. Saint Francis went 62.5% at the charity stripe by burying 10 of their 16 tries. Moreover, Saint Francis snagged 22 boards (14 offensive, 8 defensive), but couldn't earn a rejection. Saint Francis totaled 6 assists and had 4 steals in the matchup. Pertaining to defending, Illinois allowed the other team to shoot 26.2% from the field on 16 out of 61 shooting. They also doled out 21 dimes for this game as well as forcing 8 turnovers and having 3 steals. When talking about pulling down rebounds, they collected 39 with 11 of them being of the offensive sort. At the free throw line, the Fighting Illini converted 12 of their 15 attempts for a percentage of 80.0%. Illinois walked away from the game having earned a 65.5% field goal percentage (38 of 58) and converted 18 of their 34 3-point attempts.

Kofi Cockburn is one player who was a contributor for this game. He totaled 21 points on 9 out of 11 shooting. He was on the court for 26 mins and pulled down 11 boards. He ended up shooting 81.8% from the floor and totaled 1 assist.

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Illinois heads into this matchup with a win-loss record of 8-3 for the campaign. They average 80.5 pts per game (34th in the nation) while shooting 46.9% from the field. The Fighting Illini are shooting 39.0% on 3-point shots (114 of 292) and 72.1% from the charity stripe. As a unit, Illinois is grabbing 43.5 rebounds per contest and has racked up 183 assists so far this season, which has them ranked 53rd in the country in terms of passing the rock. They turn it over 15.3 times per game and as a basketball team they are committing 16.5 fouls per contest.

When they are on the defensive end, the Fighting Illini have forced 11.4 turnovers every game while drawing 19.2 fouls. They are currently ranked 42nd in D-1 in giving up assists to their opponents with 107 conceded on the season. The Fighting Illini are giving up and opponent field goal percentage of 39.1% (265 of 677) and they concede 30.4 boards per game as a unit. They concede 32.9% on 3-point attempts while they are 122nd in college hoops in points per game allowed (65.8).

The last time they took the court, the Missouri Tigers took home the win by a final score of 83-75 when they faced Utah. The Tigers pulled down 25 defensive boards and 15 offensive boards for a total of 40 in this matchup. They also coughed it up 6 times, while recording 5 steals for this contest. Utah had 23 personal fouls in the game which got the Tigers to the free throw line for a total of 29 attempts. They were able to knock down 21 of the free throw tries for a rate of 72.4%. With respect to 3-pointers, Missouri buried 4 of their 21 attempts (19.0%). Overall, the Tigers went 29 out of 66 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 43.9%. The Tigers allowed Utah to convert 24 out of 57 attempts from the floor which had them shooting 42.1% in this contest. They finished 40.0% from beyond the perimeter by going 10 of 25 and ended up shooting 17 of 21 at the free throw line (81.0%). With respect to rebounds, Missouri permitted Utah to pull down 26 in all (6 on the offensive glass).

Kobe Brown pitched in for the Tigers in this matchup. He made 8 of 11 in this contest giving him a field goal percentage of 72.7%, and had 6 rebounds. He recorded 27 points in his 25 mins of playing time and had 1 assist in the matchup.

Missouri has a win-loss mark of 6-5 for the campaign. The Tigers commit 16.5 personal fouls every game and they go 70.6% from the free throw line. They are assisting teammates 11.5 times per contest (296th in college basketball) and they are turning it over 14.3 times per contest. Missouri has tallied 747 points so far this season (67.9 per game) and they average 38.1 boards per game. As an offensive team, the Tigers are shooting 41.6% from the floor, which has them ranked 289th in the nation.

The Missouri defense allows 37.8% on 3-pointers (90 of 238) and their opponents are knocking down 62.6% of their foul shots. They have surrendered 11.6 assists and 32.3 rebounds per game, which is ranked 129th and 78th in the country. The Tigers on the defensive end are ranked 180th in college basketball in PPG allowed with 68.0. They are forcing their opponents into 14.5 TO's per game and have let teams shoot 44.3% from the floor (269th in Division 1).

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Illinois

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