Iowa Hawkeyes vs Illinois Fighting Illini Prediction, 1/29/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Iowa Hawkeyes vs Illinois Fighting Illini

Date: Friday, January 29, 2021

Location: State Farm Center in Champaign, IL

TV: FS1

Odds/Point Spread: Iowa (+1)

The Iowa Hawkeyes (12-3) head to State Farm Center on Friday where they'll meet the Illinois Fighting Illini (10-5). The odds on this matchup have Illinois as 1-point favorites. The O/U is set at 164.5.

Iowa will enter this matchup with a win-loss mark of 12-3 for the season. They are giving up possession 10.1 times per game and as a squad are committing 15.3 personal fouls per contest. As a unit, Iowa is pulling down 41.8 rebounds per game and has accounted for 313 dimes this year, which has them ranked 2nd in D-1 in terms of passing. The Hawkeyes are connecting on 38.4% on 3-pointers (151 of 393) and 73.1% from the free throw line. They have an average of 90.7 points per game (2nd in the country) while shooting 48.7% from the field. Defensively, the Hawkeyes are forcing 13.1 turnovers per game and they draw 19.7 personal fouls. They are currently ranked 336th in college basketball in allowing assists with 250 surrendered on the campaign. The Hawkeyes defense is giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 41.6% (408 of 980) and they surrender 36.8 rebounds per contest as a group. They relinquish 34.8% on three-point shots and they are 258th in college basketball in PPG allowed (73.7).

The Iowa Hawkeyes played the Indiana Hoosiers and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 81-69 in their last game. Iowa finished the game with a 38.1% field goal percentage (24 out of 63) and knocked down 5 out of their 23 shots from downtown. From the charity stripe, the Hawkeyes made 16 of their 21 tries for a rate of 76.2%. In the matter of rebounding, they collected 45 with 16 of them being offensive. They also recorded 14 assists in this contest while having 5 steals and 3 blocks. Regarding defending, Iowa allowed the other team to shoot 38.1% from the floor on 24 of 63 shooting. Indiana dished out 15 assists and had 6 steals for the matchup. On top of that, the Hoosiers totaled 28 boards (7 offensive, 21 defensive) and had 3 blocks. Indiana shot 60.0% from the charity stripe by knocking down 21 of their 35 attempts. They made 8 out of their 17 attempts from long range.

Luka Garza is a guy who was important in this contest. He recorded 28 points on 10 of 22 shooting. He played 35 mins and also grabbed 12 rebounds. Garza went 45.5% from the field and also dished out 3 assists. Someone else that was a major contributor in the matchup for the Hawkeyes was Joe Wieskamp. He collected 12 rebounds and also accumulated 2 assists. He finished the game at 60.0% from the field in this contest by hitting 6-of-10 (16 points). At the conclusion of this game, Wieskamp saw the court for 33 minutes.

Illinois has a mark of 10-5 on the campaign. Illinois has scored 1,243 points so far this year (82.9 per contest) and they average 40.5 rebounds per game. The Fighting Illini have committed 18.3 fouls per contest and they go 69.0% from the charity stripe. In terms of offensive execution, the Fighting Illini are shooting 50.9% from the field, which ranks 19th in the nation. They are dishing out assists 17.3 times per contest (21st in college hoops) and they turn it over 13.4 times per game. The Fighting Illini on defense are ranked 142nd in college hoops in points per game surrendered with 68.9. They have forced 11.8 TO's per game and have let teams shoot 40.7% from the floor (72nd in college basketball). The Illinois defense surrenders 33.6% on three-point shots (103 of 307) and their opponents are making 67.8% of their free throw attempts. They have allowed 11.1 assists and 29.7 boards per contest, which ranks them 61st and 16th in those categories.

When they last stepped on the court, the Illinois Fighting Illini got the victory with a final of 79-65 when they faced the Penn State Nittany Lions. The Fighting Illini were able to corral 26 defensive rebounds and 7 offensive rebounds for a total of 33 for this contest. They also stuffed 8 shots while earning 7 steals in the game. The Nittany Lions had 26 fouls in this game which took the Fighting Illini to the charity stripe for a total of 28 shots. They were able to knock down 20 of the free throw attempts for a rate of 71.4%. When discussing three-point attempts, Illinois knocked down 7 of their 23 tries (30.4%). When the game finished, the Fighting Illini went 26 out of 57 from the field which gave them a rate of 45.6%. The Fighting Illini allowed the Nittany Lions to knock down 21 of 62 attempts from the floor which gave them a percentage of 33.9% for the contest. They finished shooting 38.9% from three-point range by connecting on 7 of 18 and ended up going 16 of 21 from the free throw line (76.2%). When it comes to how they cleaned up the glass, Illinois permitted Penn State to pull down 36 in total (12 on the offensive glass).

Kofi Cockburn ended up being a major contributor for the Fighting Illini for the matchup. He knocked down 6 of 10 in the game giving him a field goal percentage of 60.0%, which got him 21 points. Cockburn snagged 12 rebounds in his 26 minutes and earned 2 dimes in this game. One more player who came through for Illinois was Trent Frazier. He totaled 13 points in his 33 minutes on the hardwood via 4 of 10 from the floor for the matchup. Frazier walked away from this one going 40.0% from the floor and also contributing 2 assists and 3 boards.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Iowa (+1)

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