Illinois Fighting Illini vs Michigan State Spartans Prediction, 2/10/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Illinois Fighting Illini vs Michigan State Spartans

Date: Saturday, February 10, 2024

Location: Breslin Center in East Lansing, MI

TV: CBS

Breslin Center is where the Michigan State Spartans (14-9) will try to defeat the Illinois Fighting Illini (17-5) on Saturday.

The Illinois Fighting Illini stepped onto the hardwood against Nebraska and walked away with a win by a score of 87-84 in their last game. With respect to fouls, the Fighting Illini ended up walking away with 11 and Nebraska finished the game with 21 fouls. They also converted 12 of 28 tries from beyond the arc. Nebraska walked away from this one shooting 100.0% at the charity stripe by burying 14 of their 14 attempts. In addition, Nebraska pulled down 32 boards (4 offensive, 28 defensive), but wasn't able to put a block in the stat sheet. Nebraska earned 12 assists and had 6 steals in this game. In relation to defense, Illinois allowed their opponent to shoot 42.6% from the field on 29 of 68 shooting. They also dished out 18 dimes for the matchup while forcing 8 turnovers and having 7 steals. When it comes to hauling in rebounds, they earned 46 with 15 of them being on the offensive end. From the charity stripe, the Fighting Illini made 20 of 30 shots for a rate of 66.7%. Illinois finished having earned a 41.4% FG percentage (29 of 70) and buried 9 of their 34 shots from downtown.

Coleman Hawkins is a guy who played a role in this matchup. He finished the game shooting 53.8% from the floor and distributed 5 assists. He played for 36 mins played and also pulled down 7 boards. He left the arena with 20 points on 7 out of 13 shooting.

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Illinois will play this game with a mark of 17-5 on the year. They have an average of 82.5 pts per game (25th in Division 1) while shooting 46.1% from the floor. The Fighting Illini are shooting 33.9% on 3-point shots (184 of 543) and 72.3% from the charity stripe. As a unit, Illinois is grabbing 43.2 boards per game and has accounted for 286 dimes on the year, which is 239th in D-1 in terms of passing the rock. They are giving up possession 11.2 times per game and as a team they commit 14.0 personal fouls per contest.

On the defensive end of the court, the Fighting Illini are forcing 9.4 turnovers per contest while drawing 18.1 personal fouls. They are ranked 27th in college hoops in allowing assists to their opponents with 239 relinquished so far this year. The Fighting Illini are allowing an opponent shooting percentage of 41.0% (585 of 1,427) and they concede 33.4 rebounds per contest as a team. They are relinquishing 32.3% on shots from distance and they rank 117th in Division 1 in PPG from their opponents (69.6).

The last time they took the court, the Michigan State Spartans took a loss by a final score of 59-56 when they played Minnesota. The Spartans recorded 23 defensive boards and 2 offensive rebounds for a total of 25 for this game. They also gave up possession of the ball 8 times, while getting 6 steals in this matchup. Minnesota was called for 12 fouls in the game which got the Spartans to the charity stripe for 17 tries. They were able to convert 7 of the free throw attempts for a clip of 41.2%. Pertaining to 3-pointers, Michigan State knocked down 7 out of 18 attempts (38.9%). Overall, the Spartans went 21 for 47 from the field which had them shooting 44.7%. The Spartans permitted Minnesota to convert 19 of their 44 tries from the field which gave them a rate of 43.2% for the contest. They finished 39.1% from 3-point land by going 9 out of 23 and ended up shooting 12 of 19 from the charity stripe (63.2%). In the matter of rebounds, Michigan State permitted Minnesota to pull down 26 overall (3 offensive).

Tyson Walker ended up being important for the Spartans in this game. He knocked down 8 out of 18 for this contest giving him a field goal percentage of 44.4%, and tallied 3 rebounds. He had 20 points in his 32 minutes on the court and tallied 2 dimes for the contest.

Michigan State has a mark of 14-9 for the season. On the offensive side of the court, the Spartans are shooting 47.3% from the field, which ranks 53rd in the nation. Michigan State has earned 1,714 pts for the season (74.5 per contest) and they average 34.8 rebounds per game. They are getting an assist 17.4 times per game (17th in Division 1) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 10.0 times per contest. The Spartans commit 16.2 fouls every game and they hit 68.8% from the charity stripe.

The Spartans are ranked 33rd in college hoops in points allowed per game with 65.0. They are forcing 12.6 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 39.8% from the field (22nd in college hoops). The Michigan State defense concedes 31.3% from downtown (174 of 556) and their opponents are connecting on 72.1% of their free throw attempts. They have surrendered 12.1 assists and 34.0 rebounds per contest, which ranks 119th and 132nd in those categories.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Illinois

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