Illinois Fighting Illini vs Nebraska Cornhuskers Prediction, 2/12/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Illinois Fighting Illini vs Nebraska Cornhuskers

Date: Friday, February 12, 2021

Location: Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, NE

TV: BTN

Odds/Point Spread: Illinois (-14.5)

Pinnacle Bank Arena is the site where and the Nebraska Cornhuskers (4-11) will play the Illinois Fighting Illini (13-5) on Friday. Nebraska opens this contest as 14.5-point underdogs. The total opens at 148.5.

Illinois heads into this matchup with a win-loss mark of 13-5 so far this season. They have an average of 81.8 points per game (19th in D-1) while going 50.3% from the floor. The Fighting Illini are shooting 39.3% on shots from distance (134 of 341) and 69.9% from the charity stripe. As a team, Illinois is collecting 40.5 rebounds per contest and has 301 dimes for the year, which ranks 27th in D-1 in terms of passing the rock. They are losing possession via turnover 13.5 times per game and as a basketball team are committing 18.0 personal fouls every game. When they are on defense, the Fighting Illini have forced 11.7 turnovers every game and they draw 19.5 personal fouls. The Fighting Illini defensively are giving up a field goal percentage of 40.9% (446 of 1,091) and they relinquish 29.7 boards per game as a team. They currently rank 152nd in college basketball in allowing assists to the opposition with 202 surrendered on the campaign. They are giving up 33.2% on shots from distance while they are 148th in college hoops in PPG allowed (68.8).

The Illinois Fighting Illini faced the Wisconsin Badgers and went home with a win by a final score of 75-60 in their last contest. Illinois ended the game with a 52.8% FG percentage (28 of 53) and made 5 of 16 three-point attempts. From the free throw line, the Fighting Illini converted 14 of their 21 tries for a percentage of 66.7%. When talking about getting rebounds, they earned a total of 44 with 10 of them being of the offensive variety. They also distributed 16 assists for the matchup in addition to getting 8 steals and 2 rejections. Pertaining to defense, Illinois allowed the other team to shoot 52.8% from the floor on 28 of 53 shooting. Wisconsin totaled 6 assists and had 10 steals in this game. Moreover, the Badgers totaled 19 rebounds (2 offensive, 17 defensive) and earned 2 rejections. Wisconsin finished the game at 54.5% from the free throw line by converting 6 of 11 shots. They knocked down 4 of their 24 attempts from distance.

Kofi Cockburn is one player who played a role in this game. He ended up walking away with 23 points on 10 of 13 shooting. He played for 28 minutes played and snagged 14 rebounds. Cockburn ended up shooting 76.9% from the field but had no assists when the game ended. An additional guy that was a major factor in this game for the Fighting Illini was Ayo Dosunmu. He totaled 12 rebounds and also earned 12 dimes. He ended up going 50.0% from the floor in this matchup by shooting 6-of-12 (21 points). Overall, Dosunmu saw the court for 35 min.

Nebraska has a record of 4-11 on the season. When it comes to offensive execution, the Cornhuskers are hitting on 40.9% from the floor, which ranks them 313th in the nation. Nebraska has totaled 1,065 points so far this year (71.0 per contest) and they pull in 38.4 boards per contest. Their rate of earning assists is at 12.9 times per game (201st in D-1) and they are giving up possession 13.6 times per contest. The Cornhuskers commit 18.1 fouls per contest and they hit 63.1% from the free throw line. The Cornhuskers are ranked 249th in the country in PPG allowed with 73.2. They are able to force 14.1 turnovers per game and have let teams shoot 41.3% from the floor (87th in Division 1). The Nebraska defense gives up 30.9% on shots from beyond the arc (129 of 417) and opponents are converting on 71.6% of their free throw attempts. They give up 14.1 assists and 40.4 boards per contest, which is 249th and 335th in Division 1.

When they last played, the Nebraska Cornhuskers took a loss by a final score of 61-48 when they played the Wisconsin Badgers. The Cornhuskers collected 32 defensive boards and 8 offensive rebounds totaling 40 for this contest. They turned away 2 attempts while getting 5 steals for the matchup. The Badgers committed 16 fouls in this matchup which took the Cornhuskers to the free throw line for 17 tries. They were able to make 7 of the free throws for a clip of 41.2%. Regarding shots from 3-point land, Nebraska converted 5 out of 15 attempts (33.3%). When the final whistle blew, the Cornhuskers went 18 for 49 from the field which had them shooting 36.7%. The Cornhuskers permitted the Badgers to convert 20 of their 62 tries from the floor which gave them a rate of 32.3% for the matchup. They went 28.1% from 3-point land via 9 out of 32 and walked away from this one shooting 12 out of 17 from the charity stripe (70.6%). In reference to how they rebounded, Nebraska allowed Wisconsin to grab 32 in all (7 on the offensive glass).

Lat Mayen ended up being a major contributor for the Cornhuskers for this game. He converted 6 of 12 for this game giving him a rate of 50.0%, which gave him 14 points. Mayen had 7 boards in his 34 minutes and earned 2 assists in the game. An additional guy that ended up playing a role for Nebraska was Teddy Allen. He ended up with 12 points in his 25 minutes on the court by way of 4 out of 10 from the floor for this game. Allen finished going 40.0% from the field as well as totaling 2 assists and 2 rebounds.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Nebraska (+14.5)

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