Purdue Boilermakers vs Illinois Fighting Illini Prediction, 1/2/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Purdue Boilermakers vs Illinois Fighting Illini

Date: Saturday, January 2, 2021

Location: State Farm Center in Champaign, IL

TV: BTN

Odds/Point Spread: Purdue (+7.5)

The Purdue Boilermakers (7-4) are headed to State Farm Center on Saturday where they'll meet the Illinois Fighting Illini (7-3). Illinois opens this game as 7.5-point favorites. The O/U is set at 147.5.

Purdue will take the court with a mark of 7-4 for the campaign. The Boilermakers are connecting on 37.5% on shots from 3-point land (96 of 256) and 70.6% from the charity stripe. They are averaging 72.8 pts per contest (175th in the country) while going 46.8% from the floor. They lose possession via turnover 13.3 times per game and as a group are committing 17.4 personal fouls per contest. As a team, Purdue is collecting 36.9 boards per contest and has accumulated 187 dimes this season, which has them ranked 8th in D-1 in terms of passing. On the defensive end, the Boilermakers are forcing their opponents into 11.5 turnovers per contest and they draw 17.0 fouls. The Boilermakers are allowing an opponent shooting percentage of 42.2% (256 of 606) and they surrender 28.9 rebounds per contest as a group. They are currently ranked 326th in college hoops in giving up assists to the opposition with 164 surrendered on the year. They give up 32.3% on 3-pointers while they are 126th in college hoops in points per game allowed (67.4).

The Purdue Boilermakers played the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and went home with a loss by a final score of 81-76 in their last game. Purdue ended the contest having earned a 49.2% FG percentage (29 of 59) and made 7 of 26 3-point shots. At the charity stripe, the Boilermakers converted 11 of their 14 attempts for a rate of 78.6%. Regarding hauling in rebounds, they collected 31 with 9 of them being offensive. They also recorded 14 dimes for this contest as well as getting 2 steals and 2 rejections. Pertaining to defense, Purdue allowed the other team to go 49.2% from the field on 29 of 59 shooting. Rutgers distributed 12 assists and had 7 steals for the game. Furthurmore, the Scarlet Knights grabbed 27 rebounds (4 offensive, 23 defensive) and got 2 blocks. Rutgers ended up shooting 82.4% from the charity stripe by converting 14 of 17 shots. They converted 11 of 21 shots from long range.

Trevion Williams is one player who had an impact in the game. He racked up 21 points on 10 out of 12 shooting. He played 29 minutes played and snagged 12 boards. Williams ended up going 83.3% from the floor and distributed 2 assists. Someone else that was a major contributor in this matchup for the Boilermakers was Isaiah Thompson. He grabbed 2 boards and had 2 assists. He finished the game shooting 87.5% from the floor in the game by shooting 7-of-8 (17 points). At the conclusion of this game, Thompson played for 27 minutes.

Illinois has a record of 7-3 on the campaign. Illinois has totaled 873 points so far this season (87.3 per contest) and they collect 42.3 rebounds per game. The Fighting Illini are committing 18.8 fouls every game and they go 70.8% from the charity stripe. On the offensive side of the court, the Fighting Illini are shooting 53.1% from the floor, which ranks them 28th in the country. Their rate of earning assists is at 17.6 times per contest (36th in D-1) and they turn it over 14.0 times per contest. The Fighting Illini on the defensive side of the court are 170th in college basketball in PPG allowed with 70.1. They have allowed 11.5 assists and 28.2 boards per game, which has them ranked 94th and 9th in college hoops. The Illinois defense allows 30.2% on 3-point shots (64 of 212) and opponents are making 64.1% of their shots from the free throw line. They have forced 11.0 turnovers on a nightly basis and allow teams to shoot 41.1% from the field (117th in college basketball).

When they last played, the Illinois Fighting Illini walked away with a victory by a final of 69-60 against the Indiana Hoosiers. The Fighting Illini collected 31 defensive rebounds and 7 offensive boards totaling 38 for this game. They also blocked 2 shots while getting 5 steals for this game. The Hoosiers were called for 15 personal fouls in this game which took the Fighting Illini to the charity stripe for 18 tries. They were able to make 14 of them for a percentage of 77.8%. In the matter of 3-point attempts, Illinois knocked down 7 of 20 attempts (35.0%). At the conclusion of this game, the Fighting Illini finished the game shooting 24 for 54 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 44.4%. The Fighting Illini allowed the Hoosiers to knock down 23 out of 58 tries from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 39.7% for the contest. They finished the game shooting 38.9% from 3-point land by going 7 of 18 and ended up going 7 of 9 from the free throw line (77.8%). In reference to rebounding, Illinois allowed Indiana to pull down 26 in all (2 on the offensive glass).

Ayo Dosunmu was important for the Fighting Illini for the game. He made 11 out of 17 for this contest giving him a rate of 64.7%, which gave him 30 points. Dosunmu collected 2 boards in his 36 mins and tallied 5 assists in this contest. One more player who came through for Illinois was Kofi Cockburn. He ended up walking away with 15 points in 29 minutes played by way of 6 out of 12 shooting for this game. Cockburn finished going 50.0% from the floor while also earning 2 assists and 15 boards.

So what is Tonights Parlay prediction?

Parlay's Pundit's Pick: Take Illinois (-7.5) and under 147.5 points

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