Illinois Fighting Illini vs Penn State Nittany Lions Prediction, 2/21/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Illinois Fighting Illini vs Penn State Nittany Lions

Date: Wednesday, February 21, 2024

Location: Bryce Jordan Center in University Park, PA

TV: BTN

Bryce Jordan Center is the site where the Penn State Nittany Lions (12-14) will take on the Illinois Fighting Illini (19-6) on Wednesday.

The Illinois Fighting Illini faced off with Maryland and took home the win by a score of 85-80 in their last game. Illinois ended with a 48.0% field goal percentage (24 out of 50) and converted 5 of their 20 three-point shots. At the charity stripe, the Fighting Illini buried 32 of their 36 tries for a percentage of 88.9%. Pertaining to getting rebounds, they earned 30 with 4 of them being offensive. They also recorded 9 assists for the contest in addition to forcing the other team into 6 turnovers and getting 2 steals. In regard to the defense, Illinois let their opponent shoot 41.3% from the field on 26 out of 63 shooting. Maryland totaled 9 dimes and had 3 steals in this game. Additionally, Maryland grabbed 35 rebounds (11 offensive, 24 defensive), but didn't notch a block. Maryland finished 82.8% at the free throw line by knocking down 24 of their 29 attempts. They made 4 of 18 tries from three-point range. When talking about personal fouls, the Fighting Illini finished with 22 and Maryland totaled 25 personal fouls.

Terrence Shannon is someone who came through for the game. He finished the game at 37.5% from the floor and also recorded 1 assist. He saw the court for 39 minutes played and collected 1 rebound. He accounted for 27 points on 6 of 16 shooting.

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Illinois will play this contest with a win-loss mark of 19-6 on the campaign. They currently have an average of 83.1 pts per contest (20th in Division 1) while going 46.4% from the field. The Fighting Illini are hitting 34.3% on shots beyond the perimeter (212 of 618) and 74.2% from the free throw line. As a unit, Illinois is collecting 42.2 boards per game and has tallied 326 dimes on the season, which is 240th in D-1 in terms of passing the rock. They turn the ball over 10.9 times per contest and as a team are committing 15.0 fouls every game.

Defensively, the Fighting Illini are forcing 9.2 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 18.2 fouls. They surrender 31.9% from beyond the arc and they are 146th in D-1 in opponents PPG (70.7). The Fighting Illini defense is giving up and opponent field goal percentage of 41.4% (664 of 1,602) and they surrender 33.4 boards per game as a basketball team. They currently rank 19th in the country in allowing assists to the opposition with 269 relinquished on the season.

In their last game, the Penn State Nittany Lions went home defeated by a final of 68-49 when they faced Nebraska. When talking about cleaning up the glass, Penn State allowed Nebraska to pull down 38 in total (9 on the offensive side). They shot 19.0% from distance by shooting 4 of 21 and ended up going 10 of 11 at the free throw line (90.9%). The Nittany Lions allowed Nebraska to make 27 out of 61 attempts from the field which gave them a rate of 44.3% in the matchup. When this game wrapped up, the Nittany Lions went 18 for 54 from the floor which gave them a rate of 33.3%. In the matter of shooting from beyond the arc, Penn State made 5 out of their 23 tries (21.7%). They were able to make 8 of those for a percentage of 50.0%. Nebraska was called for 15 fouls in this game which got the Nittany Lions to the charity stripe for 16 tries. They also gave up possession of the ball 14 times, while earning 10 steals for this game. The Nittany Lions recorded 22 defensive boards and 7 offensive rebounds totaling 29 for the game.

Zach Hicks was important for the Nittany Lions in this matchup. He buried 5 out of 14 for the game for a field goal rate of 35.7%, and totaled 6 rebounds. He totaled 13 points in his 35 mins on the court and tallied 1 assist for the contest.

Penn State has a mark of 12-14 so far this year. On the offensive side of the court, the Nittany Lions are connecting on 43.8% from the field, which ranks them 238th in the nation. Penn State has 1,944 pts on the campaign (74.8 per game) and they collect 31.5 rebounds per game. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 12.2 times per game (273rd in the country) and they turn the ball over 11.1 times per contest. The Nittany Lions are committing 17.7 personal fouls per contest and they go 74.2% from the charity stripe.

The Nittany Lions on the defensive end are ranked 229th in college hoops in PPG surrendered with 73.3. They are forcing 15.2 TO's every game and have let teams shoot 45.7% from the floor (313th in college hoops). The Penn State defense gives up 30.7% on shots from distance (150 of 488) and opponents are knocking down 77.2% of their shots from the free throw line. They have conceded 14.6 dimes and 37.1 rebounds per game, which is ranked 312th and 296th in Division 1.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Illinois

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