Illinois Fighting Illini vs Missouri Tigers Prediction, 12/22/2022 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Illinois Fighting Illini vs Missouri Tigers

Date: Thursday, December 22, 2022

Location: Enterprise Center in St. Louis, MO

TV: SECN

The Missouri Tigers (10-1) will play the Illinois Fighting Illini (8-3) at Enterprise Center on Thursday.

The Illinois Fighting Illini took the court against Alabama A&M and went home with a win by a final score of 68-47 in their last contest. In reference to fouls, the Fighting Illini finished with 16 and Alabama A&M racked up 23 fouls. They knocked down 3 of their 17 shots from distance. Alabama A&M went 71.4% from the charity stripe by converting 10 of 14 attempts. Additionally, Alabama A&M snagged 31 rebounds (10 offensive, 21 defensive), but wasn't able to record a rejection. Alabama A&M recorded 2 dimes and had 7 steals in this matchup. When discussing the defense, Illinois let their opponent shoot 30.4% from the floor on 17 out of 56 shooting. They also doled out 9 dimes for this game while forcing 17 turnovers and earning 7 steals. Pertaining to pulling down rebounds, they compiled a total of 40 with 14 of them being offensive. At the free throw line, the Fighting Illini made 13 of their 23 shots for a rate of 56.5%. Illinois ended with a 42.1% field goal percentage (24 of 57) and buried 7 out of their 27 shots from distance.

Matthew Mayer is someone who was a factor for the contest. He ended up scoring 21 points on 9 of 12 shooting. He played for 20 mins and snagged 7 rebounds. He finished the contest at 75.0% from the floor and also dished out 1 assist.

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Illinois comes into this one with a record of 8-3 this season. They currently have an average of 78.1 pts per contest (77th in the country) while hitting 46.9% from the field. The Fighting Illini are shooting 34.4% on shots from 3-point land (103 of 299) and 64.5% from the free throw line. As a unit, Illinois is snagging 40.0 boards per game and is sitting with 159 dimes for the campaign, which is 177th in D-1 in terms of passing the ball. They are turning it over 15.1 times per contest and as a team they commit 16.5 fouls every game.

On the defensive end, the Fighting Illini are able to force 16.7 turnovers per game while drawing 18.5 fouls. They are surrendering 31.6% on shots from distance and they are 42nd in college hoops in points per game allowed (62.1). The Fighting Illini are allowing a field goal percentage of 38.4% (245 of 638) and they relinquish 32.8 boards per game as a basketball team. They currently rank 65th in college basketball in giving up assists with 119 surrendered so far this year.

In their last game, the Missouri Tigers went home victorious with a score of 68-66 when they played UCF. When talking about how they attacked the glass, Missouri permitted UCF to get 25 overall (9 on the offensive glass). They shot 46.4% from three-point range by connecting on 13 out of 28 and finished the game at 9 of 15 at the free throw line (60.0%). The Tigers allowed UCF to make 22 of their 52 tries from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 42.3% for the contest. When the game finished, the Tigers finished 23 for 46 from the field which had them sitting at 50.0%. With respect to shooting from 3-point land, Missouri knocked down 13 of their 25 tries (52.0%). They were able to convert 9 of those for a percentage of 69.2%. UCF committed 12 fouls for the matchup which got the Tigers to the free throw line for 13 shots. They coughed up the ball 15 times, while recording 8 steals for the game. The Tigers earned 18 defensive boards and 4 offensive boards for a total of 22 for this game.

Nick Honor ended up being a major contributor for the Tigers in the game. He racked up 17 points in his 34 minutes on the court and earned 3 dimes in this game. He knocked down 6 of 9 for this contest for a field goal percentage of 66.7%, and earned 2 rebounds.

Missouri has a win-loss mark of 10-1 on the campaign. On the offensive side of the court, the Tigers are hitting on 50.6% from the field, which is 11th in the country. Missouri has tallied 972 points on the campaign (88.4 per contest) and they average 33.8 rebounds per game. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 19.7 times per game (4th in college basketball) and they are turning it over 12.9 times per game. The Tigers commit 18.3 personal fouls per game and they go 74.3% from the free throw line.

The Tigers are ranked 317th in the nation in points per game surrendered with 75.0. They are forcing their opponents into 20.1 turnovers per game and have let teams shoot 43.7% from the floor (236th in college hoops). The Missouri defense concedes 37.6% on shots from beyond the perimeter (105 of 279) and their opponents are connecting on 75.4% of their shots from the free throw line. They surrender 13.9 assists and 35.6 boards on a nightly basis, which has them ranked 275th and 257th in Division 1.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Missouri

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