Illinois Fighting Illini vs Michigan State Spartans Prediction, 2/19/2022 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Illinois Fighting Illini vs Michigan State Spartans

Date: Saturday, February 19, 2022

Location: Breslin Center in East Lansing, MI

TV: ESPN

Breslin Center is the location where the Michigan State Spartans (18-7) will try to beat the Illinois Fighting Illini (18-7) on Saturday.

The Illinois Fighting Illini played Rutgers and took a loss by a final of 70-59 in their last game. With respect to personal fouls, the Fighting Illini walked away with 16 while Rutgers accounted for 16 personal fouls. They converted 5 out of their 15 attempts from downtown. Rutgers shot 64.3% when shooting free throws by converting 9 of 14 attempts. Furthermore, Rutgers grabbed 42 rebounds (13 offensive, 29 defensive), but couldn't earn a rejection. Rutgers dished out 14 dimes and had 9 steals in this contest. In regard to the defense, Illinois let their opponent shoot 47.5% from the floor on 28 out of 59 shooting. They also doled out 15 assists for this game while forcing the other team into 13 turnovers and having 8 steals. When talking about pulling down boards, they earned a total of 26 with 7 of them being on the offensive end. At the free throw line, the Fighting Illini made 9 of their 16 attempts for a rate of 56.3%. Illinois finished the game having earned a 37.3% FG percentage (22 of 59) and buried 6 of their 23 3-point attempts.

Kofi Cockburn is someone who played a role for this game. He finished the contest at 57.1% from the field but finished the game without a dime. He played for 33 minutes and also totaled 10 rebounds. He accounted for 20 points on 8 of 14 shooting.

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Illinois heads into this matchup with a record of 18-7 on the campaign. They lose possession via turnover 12.8 times per contest and as a unit they commit 16.3 fouls every game. As a team, Illinois is pulling down 39.8 rebounds per game and has accounted for 390 dimes on the campaign, which is 49th in Division 1 in terms of passing. The Fighting Illini are shooting 36.2% on 3-pointers (231 of 638) and 70.8% from the free throw line. They currently have an average of 75.9 points per game (67th in Division 1) while hitting 45.5% from the floor.

When they are on the defensive end, the Fighting Illini are forcing 10.8 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 17.9 personal fouls. They currently rank 29th in college basketball in allowing assists to the opposition with 247 conceded this season. The Fighting Illini defensively are allowing an opponent shooting percentage of 40.4% (609 of 1,509) and they relinquish 32.4 boards per contest as a group. They are giving up 31.3% on shots from downtown and they are 105th in college basketball in points per game allowed (66.4).

For their last game, the Michigan State Spartans took a loss by a final score of 62-58 against Penn State. In relation to rebounds, Michigan State allowed Penn State to snag 34 in total (10 offensive). They finished 40.0% from three-point range by going 10 of 25 and ended up going 8 out of 12 from the free throw line (66.7%). The Spartans permitted Penn State to bury 22 of 56 tries from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 39.3% for this game. When the final whistle blew, the Spartans walked away from this one shooting 23 for 55 from the field which had them sitting at 41.8%. Regarding shooting from 3-point land, Michigan State converted 5 of 16 attempts (31.3%). They were able to knock down 7 of them for a clip of 70.0%. Penn State had 14 fouls in the matchup which got the Spartans to the charity stripe for a total of 10 tries. They turned it over 10 times, while recording 5 steals for the game. The Spartans snagged 24 defensive boards and 7 offensive boards for a total of 31 for this game.

Julius Marble pitched in for the Spartans for the matchup. He made 6 of 7 for the contest for a field goal percentage of 85.7%, and had 8 rebounds. He earned 14 points in his 21 minutes on the court, but wasn't able to earn an assist.

Michigan State has a record of 18-7 on the campaign. The Spartans commit 16.6 personal fouls every game and they hit 76.6% from the free throw line. They are dishing out assists 15.8 times per contest (36th in college hoops) and they cough up possession 13.9 times per contest. Michigan State has accounted for 1,818 pts so far this season (72.7 per game) and they grab 38.0 rebounds per contest. On the offensive side of the ball, the Spartans are shooting 45.9% from the field, which ranks 83rd in Division 1.

The Spartans on the defensive end are ranked 93rd in the nation in PPG given up with 66.1. They are forcing 10.8 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 40.3% from the floor (41st in D-1). The Michigan State defense surrenders 30.2% on 3-pointers (170 of 563) and opponents are converting on 69.3% of their free throw shots. They allow 12.6 dimes and 32.0 rebounds every game, which has them ranked 179th and 62nd in college basketball.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Michigan State

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