Ohio State Buckeyes vs Illinois Fighting Illini Prediction, 3/14/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Ohio State Buckeyes vs Illinois Fighting Illini

Date: Sunday, March 14, 2021

Location: Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, IN

TV: CBS

Odds/Point Spread: Ohio State (+5)

The Ohio State Buckeyes (20-8) head to Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday where they'll take on the Illinois Fighting Illini (21-6). Illinois opens this game as 5-point favorites. The total opens at 152.

Ohio State enters this matchup with a win-loss record of 20-8 this year. They are turning it over 10.6 times per game and as a team they commit 18.2 personal fouls per game. As a unit, Ohio State is snagging 36.1 boards per game and has tallied 367 dimes for the campaign, which is 72nd in the country in terms of passing the rock. The Buckeyes are shooting 36.0% on shots from 3-point land (227 of 630) and 76.9% from the charity stripe. They average 77.3 pts per game (49th in D-1) on 46.1% from the floor. Defensively, the Buckeyes are able to force 10.5 turnovers per contest and they draw 19.0 personal fouls. The Buckeyes are giving up a FG percentage of 42.5% (693 of 1,630) and they relinquish 33.3 boards per contest as a squad. They are ranked 317th in D-1 in giving up assists to their opponents with 382 surrendered for the year. They are conceding 33.9% on three-point shots while they are 187th in college basketball in PPG allowed (70.4).

The Ohio State Buckeyes played the Purdue Boilermakers and walked away with a win by a score of 87-78 in their last game. Ohio State walked away from the game with a 45.5% field goal percentage (30 out of 66) and knocked down 11 of their 31 3-point shots. At the charity stripe, the Buckeyes converted 16 of their 18 shots for a rate of 88.9%. In relation to grabbing boards, they collected 37 with 10 of them being of the offensive sort. They also dished out 19 assists for the matchup while forcing 9 turnovers and earning 6 steals. In the matter of the defense, Ohio State allowed their opponent to shoot 43.5% from the field on 27 out of 62 shooting. Purdue earned 16 dimes and had 4 steals for this game. Additionally, Purdue pulled down 31 rebounds (13 offensive, 18 defensive) and had 7 blocks. Purdue ended up going 55.6% at the charity stripe by knocking down 15 of 27 attempts. They also converted 9 out of their 26 tries from long range.

Duane Washington is a guy who came through for the contest. He ended up finishing with 20 points on 7 out of 17 shooting. He was on the court for 40 minutes and also snagged 5 boards. Washington shot 41.2% from the field and recorded 3 assists. Someone else that was a determining factor in this game for the Buckeyes was Kyle Young. He totaled 4 rebounds in his 19 minutes on the hardwood. He finished 70.0% from the field in the game by shooting 7-of-10 (18 points). When this game wrapped up, Young had 1 assist.

Illinois has a win-loss mark of 21-6 this season. Illinois has 2,188 points on the campaign (81.0 per game) and they pull in 40.3 boards per game. The Fighting Illini are committing 17.9 fouls per contest while shooting 68.6% from the charity stripe. On the offensive side of the ball, the Fighting Illini are shooting 50.1% from the field, which ranks 15th in college basketball. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 16.1 times per contest (29th in the nation) and they cough up possession 13.5 times per contest. The Fighting Illini are ranked 121st in the nation in PPG given up with 68.5. They are forcing 11.7 turnovers on a nightly basis and have allowed teams to shoot 41.1% from the floor (61st in college hoops). The Illinois defense allows 32.7% on 3-pointers (174 of 532) and opponents are knocking down 68.0% of their shots from the free throw line. They relinquish 10.8 dimes and 29.9 boards per game, which ranks them 38th and 14th in college hoops.

When they last stepped on the court, the Illinois Fighting Illini got the win with a final of 90-68 when they faced the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. The Fighting Illini snagged 25 defensive rebounds and 16 offensive boards totaling 41 for the matchup. They turned it over 14 times, while earning 8 steals for the contest. The Scarlet Knights were called for 24 fouls for the contest which got the Fighting Illini to the free throw line for a total of 31 attempts. They were able to knock down 21 of the free throw attempts for a rate of 67.7%. In the matter of shots from beyond the arc, Illinois made 5 of 17 tries (29.4%). At the conclusion of this game, the Fighting Illini finished shooting 32 out of 61 from the field which had them at 52.5%. The Fighting Illini allowed the Scarlet Knights to convert 25 of their 54 tries from the floor which gave them a percentage of 46.3% for this game. They finished 18.2% from three-point range by going 2 of 11 and finished the game at 16 of 22 at the charity stripe (72.7%). In reference to cleaning up the glass, Illinois allowed Rutgers to collect 18 in all (2 offensive).

Ayo Dosunmu was important for the Fighting Illini in the game. He buried 8 out of 11 in the game for a field goal percentage of 72.7%, and accumulated 5 rebounds. Dosunmu accumulated 23 points in his 32 mins of playing time and had 6 dimes for this contest. An additional guy that was important for Illinois was Kofi Cockburn. He accumulated no assists in 27 mins played, and he shot 6 of 10 from the floor. Cockburn ended the game having shot 60.0% from the field as well as contributing 18 points and 12 rebounds.

So what is Tonights Parlay prediction?

Parlay's Pundit's Pick: Take Illinois (-5) and over 152 points

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