Rutgers Scarlet Knights vs Illinois Fighting Illini Prediction, 12/3/2021 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Rutgers Scarlet Knights vs Illinois Fighting Illini

Date: Friday, December 3, 2021

Location: State Farm Center in Champaign, IL

TV: ESPN2

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights (4-3) are en route to State Farm Center on Friday where they will try to defeat the Illinois Fighting Illini (5-2).

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights faced off with Clemson and notched a win by a score of 74-64 in their last game. When it comes to fouls, the Scarlet Knights ended up finishing with 16 while Clemson totaled 22 fouls. They buried 4 of 18 attempts from downtown. Clemson went 73.7% from the free throw line by knocking down 14 of their 19 attempts. In addition, Clemson pulled down 36 rebounds (9 offensive, 27 defensive), but wrapped up the game with no rejections. Clemson distributed 13 assists and had 3 steals in this contest. In relation to defense, Rutgers allowed the other team to shoot 39.0% from the floor on 23 out of 59 shooting. They also recorded 15 dimes for the contest while forcing the opposition into 9 turnovers and earning 4 steals. In terms of hauling in boards, they earned a total of 38 with 11 of them being on the offensive end. From the charity stripe, the Scarlet Knights made 15 of their 26 attempts for a rate of 57.7%. Rutgers finished having earned a 43.3% field goal percentage (26 of 60) and buried 7 of their 19 three-point attempts.

Ron Harper is one player who was a factor in this contest. He finished shooting 61.5% from the field and recorded 3 assists. He was on the hardwood for 33 minutes played and collected 9 rebounds. He ended up walking away with 23 points on 8 of 13 shooting.

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Rutgers will enter this contest with a win-loss mark of 4-3 so far this season. They cough up possession 9.9 times per game and as a group are committing 13.7 fouls per contest. As a unit, Rutgers is snagging 40.3 rebounds per game and has totaled 106 assists so far this season, which ranks 131st in college hoops in terms of passing. The Scarlet Knights are shooting 26.0% on 3-point shots (34 of 131) and 66.7% from the free throw line. They average 67.7 points per contest (263rd in D-1) while shooting 40.7% from the field.

On the defensive end, the Scarlet Knights are forcing their opponents into 12.4 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 16.9 personal fouls. They are currently ranked 150th in Division 1 in giving up assists to the opposition with 85 surrendered so far this season. The Scarlet Knights defense is allowing and opponent field goal percentage of 39.5% (151 of 382) and they relinquish 35.4 boards per contest as a basketball team. They give up 34.4% on 3-pointers while they are 79th in college hoops in PPG allowed (63.0).

In their last game, the Illinois Fighting Illini went home victorious with a score of 82-72 when they faced Notre Dame. Concerning rebounding, Illinois permitted Notre Dame to collect 27 overall (8 offensive). They went 36.4% from 3-point land via 8 of 22 and finished the contest at 8 out of 12 from the charity stripe (66.7%). The Fighting Illini allowed Notre Dame to make 28 of 61 attempts from the field which had them shooting 45.9% in the matchup. When the final whistle was blown, the Fighting Illini walked away from this one shooting 28 out of 53 from the floor which had them shooting 52.8%. When discussing shooting from 3-point land, Illinois buried 11 of their 27 attempts (40.7%). They were able to knock down 15 of them for a clip of 78.9%. Notre Dame earned 19 personal fouls for the contest which got the Fighting Illini to the charity stripe for a total of 19 attempts. They also turned the ball over 12 times, while getting 2 steals for this contest. The Fighting Illini earned 23 defensive boards and 8 offensive boards for a total of 31 for the matchup.

Kofi Cockburn was important for the Fighting Illini in this game. He knocked down 11 of 16 in the matchup for a rate of 68.8%, and accounted for 8 rebounds. He accumulated 28 points in his 32 minutes on the hardwood and accounted for 2 dimes in the matchup.

Illinois has a record of 5-2 for the season. As an offensive unit, the Fighting Illini are hitting on 45.5% from the floor, which ranks 136th in the nation. Illinois has accumulated 528 pts for the campaign (75.4 per game) and they pull down 41.9 boards per game. They are dishing out assists 16.1 times per contest (47th in college basketball) and they are giving up possession 16.4 times per game. The Fighting Illini are responsible for committing 17.6 personal fouls per game and they connect on 68.2% from the free throw line.

The Fighting Illini on the defensive side of the court are 120th in college basketball in points per game surrendered with 65.6. They are able to force 12.0 turnovers per game and have let teams shoot 40.3% from the floor (105th in Division 1). The Illinois defense allows 30.8% on shots from behind the 3-point line (41 of 133) and their opposition makes 73.3% of their free throw attempts. They give up 8.4 dimes and 29.7 boards per game, which ranks them 10th and 24th in those categories.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Rutgers

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