Western Illinois Leathernecks vs Illinois Fighting Illini Prediction, 11/24/2023 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Western Illinois Leathernecks vs Illinois Fighting Illini

Date: Friday, November 24, 2023

Location: State Farm Center in Champaign, IL

TV: BTN

The Western Illinois Leathernecks (2-2) are headed to State Farm Center on Friday where they will go up against the Illinois Fighting Illini (4-1).

The Western Illinois Leathernecks stepped onto the hardwood against Southern and notched a win by a score of 88-80 in their last game. Western Illinois walked away from the contest having earned a 55.6% field goal percentage (30 of 54) and converted 6 out of their 17 3-point attempts. From the free throw line, the Leathernecks made 22 of their 34 attempts for a rate of 64.7%. Concerning rebounding, they collected a total of 40 with 9 of them being of the offensive sort. They also doled out 13 assists for the matchup in addition to forcing the opposition into 13 turnovers and getting 4 steals. When discussing defending, Western Illinois let their opponent shoot 44.4% from the floor on 32 out of 72 shooting. Southern distributed 11 assists and had 15 steals for the matchup. On top of that, Southern totaled 30 boards (10 offensive, 20 defensive), but didn't notch a block. Southern finished the game at 56.5% when shooting free throws by making 13 of their 23 attempts. They buried 3 out of their 15 tries from 3-point range. When it comes to personal fouls, the Leathernecks ended up walking away with 17 and Southern racked up 27 personal fouls.

James Dent Jr. is one guy who played a role for the game. He walked away from this one shooting 40.0% from the floor and distributed 3 dimes. He was on the court for 42 mins and also grabbed 8 boards. He ended up walking away with 24 points on 6 out of 15 shooting.

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Western Illinois heads into this matchup with a record of 2-2 on the season. They are turning it over 17.3 times per contest and as a team they commit 17.8 fouls every game. As a team, Western Illinois is pulling down 49.8 rebounds per contest and is sitting with 47 dimes this year, which ranks 287th in D-1 in terms of passing. The Leathernecks are hitting 29.5% from downtown (28 of 95) and 57.3% from the free throw line. They are averaging 75.8 points per contest (183rd in college basketball) while hitting 41.3% from the field.

On defense, the Leathernecks are forcing 10.3 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 21.3 personal fouls. They are ranked 208th in D-1 in giving up assists to their opponents with 57 relinquished this season. The Leathernecks defense is allowing an opponent FG percentage of 40.0% (114 of 285) and they concede 40.5 boards per game as a unit. They relinquish 28.1% on 3-point shots and they are 294th in D-1 in points per game allowed (76.8).

When they last stepped on the hardwood, the Illinois Fighting Illini walked away with a victory by a final of 88-60 when they played Southern. In reference to how they cleaned up the glass, Illinois permitted Southern to collect 16 in total (4 on the offensive glass). They shot 20.8% from downtown by shooting 5 of 24 and finished the contest at 9 out of 14 from the free throw line (64.3%). The Fighting Illini permitted Southern to knock down 23 out of 61 tries from the floor which left them with a shooting percentage of 37.7% for this contest. When the final whistle blew, the Fighting Illini ended up going 36 out of 63 from the floor which had them shooting 57.1%. In reference to 3-point attempts, Illinois converted 5 of 22 tries (22.7%). They were able to convert 11 of the free throw attempts for a percentage of 64.7%. Southern had 14 personal fouls for the game which got the Fighting Illini to the charity stripe for 17 attempts. They turned the ball over 21 times, while recording 4 steals in this contest. The Fighting Illini were able to collect 33 defensive rebounds and 15 offensive rebounds totaling 48 in the game.

Terrence Shannon ended up being important for the Fighting Illini for this game. He earned 24 points in his 30 minutes on the court and earned 4 dimes for this game. He buried 8 of 13 for the contest giving him a rate of 61.5%, and totaled 3 rebounds.

Illinois has a mark of 4-1 so far this year. As an offensive team, the Fighting Illini are shooting 46.6% from the field, which is ranked 115th in the country. Illinois has scored 383 pts so far this season (76.6 per contest) and they grab 47.2 rebounds per game. Their rate of earning assists is at 14.0 times per contest (147th in college basketball) and they lose possession via turnover 13.2 times per contest. The Fighting Illini are responsible for committing 12.8 personal fouls every game while shooting 58.1% from the charity stripe.

The Illinois defense gives up 26.4% on shots from beyond the arc (24 of 91) and their opposition knocks down 62.2% of their foul shots. They give up 6.4 assists and 35.6 boards per game, which has them ranked 3rd and 207th in those categories. The Fighting Illini defensively are ranked 32nd in college basketball in PPG given up with 60.0. They have forced 9.2 TO's per game and have let teams shoot 35.1% from the floor (17th in D-1).

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Western Illinois

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