Illinois Fighting Illini vs UCLA Bruins Prediction, 11/18/2022 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Illinois Fighting Illini vs UCLA Bruins

Date: Friday, November 18, 2022

Location: T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV

TV: ESPNU

T-Mobile Arena is where the UCLA Bruins (3-0) will try to beat the Illinois Fighting Illini (3-0) on Friday.

The Illinois Fighting Illini faced Monmouth and walked away with a win by a score of 103-65 in their last game. Illinois wrapped up the game with a 59.7% FG percentage (37 out of 62) and buried 14 of their 33 three-point attempts. When they shot from the free throw line, the Fighting Illini converted 15 of 20 shots for a percentage of 75.0%. In reference to grabbing rebounds, they earned a total of 35 with 11 of them being of the offensive sort. They also doled out 21 assists for the contest in addition to creating 22 turnovers and getting 11 steals. In the matter of the defense, Illinois allowed the other team to go 42.9% from the field on 21 of 49 shooting. Monmouth totaled 11 assists and had 6 steals in this matchup. Moreover, Monmouth totaled 18 rebounds (3 offensive, 15 defensive), but wasn't able to put a block in the stat sheet. Monmouth ended up going 73.9% at the charity stripe by converting 17 of 23 shots. They made 6 out of their 16 shots from distance. With respect to fouls, the Fighting Illini left the arena with 23 and Monmouth had 21 fouls.

Terrence Shannon is one player who had an impact for the matchup. He notched 30 points on 9 of 14 shooting. He was on the court for 23 minutes and collected 8 boards. He walked away from this one shooting 64.3% from the floor and also totaled 4 dimes.

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Illinois will play this game with a record of 3-0 this year. They average 92.0 points per contest (18th in the nation) while hitting 51.1% from the field. The Fighting Illini are connecting on 36.0% on 3-point shots (31 of 86) and 64.6% from the free throw line. As a unit, Illinois is snagging 43.7 rebounds per game and has totaled 52 assists on the campaign, which has them ranked 63rd in D-1 in terms of passing the ball. They lose possession via turnover 14.7 times per game and as a unit are committing 16.7 fouls per contest.

On defense, the Fighting Illini are forcing 22.0 turnovers every game and they draw 22.3 personal fouls. They currently rank 112th in college hoops in allowing assists to the opposition with 28 conceded so far this year. The Fighting Illini defense is allowing and opponent field goal percentage of 35.8% (62 of 173) and they concede 30.3 boards per game as a unit. They give up 23.1% on 3-pointers while they are 43rd in college hoops in points per game allowed (56.7).

For their last game, the UCLA Bruins went home victorious with a score of 86-56 when they played Norfolk State. The Bruins were able to snag 21 defensive boards and 9 offensive boards totaling 30 for the matchup. They also coughed up the ball 7 times, while recording 8 steals for this game. Norfolk State was called for 19 fouls for the contest which got the Bruins to the charity stripe for a total of 18 shots. They were able to convert 11 of the free throw tries for a clip of 61.1%. In terms of shots from beyond the arc, UCLA made 11 out of 25 attempts (44.0%). When the final whistle blew, the Bruins shot 32 for 56 from the floor which had them at 57.1%. The Bruins permitted Norfolk State to knock down 26 of 55 tries from the field which left them with a shooting percentage of 47.3% for the matchup. They finished 14.3% from 3-point land by connecting on 2 out of 14 and ended up shooting 2 out of 4 from the charity stripe (50.0%). In relation to cleaning the glass, UCLA allowed Norfolk State to pull down 22 in all (4 offensive).

Jaylen Clark was important for the Bruins for this contest. He converted 7 of 11 in this contest for a field goal percentage of 63.6%, and had 9 rebounds. He recorded 19 points in his 25 mins of playing time, but wasn't able to earn an assist.

UCLA has a win-loss record of 3-0 on the season. The Bruins are responsible for committing 15.7 fouls every game and they shoot 67.5% from the charity stripe. They are assisting teammates 16.3 times per contest (90th in the country) and they lose possession via turnover 10.3 times per game. UCLA has earned 255 pts so far this season (85.0 per contest) and they pull in 37.3 rebounds per game. As an offensive unit, the Bruins are hitting on 51.8% from the field, which ranks 36th in the country.

The UCLA defense allows 18.9% from downtown (10 of 53) and opponents are connecting on 67.5% of their free throw attempts. They allow 9.7 dimes and 32.3 boards every game, ranking them 86th and 105th in those defensive categories. The Bruins on the defensive side of the court are 58th in the nation in points given up per game with 58.3. They are forcing their opponents into 17.0 TO's every game and have allowed teams to shoot 39.2% from the floor (120th in college basketball).

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take UCLA

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