Illinois Fighting Illini vs Wisconsin Badgers Prediction, 3/2/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Illinois Fighting Illini vs Wisconsin Badgers

Date: Saturday, March 2, 2024

Location: Kohl Center in Madison, WI

TV: BTN

Kohl Center is the location where the Wisconsin Badgers (18-10) will attempt to defeat the Illinois Fighting Illini (21-7) on Saturday.

The Illinois Fighting Illini faced Minnesota and took home the win by a score of 105-97 in their last game. When it comes to personal fouls, the Fighting Illini walked away with 16 while Minnesota finished the game with 19 personal fouls. They knocked down 14 out of their 20 shots from beyond the arc. Minnesota walked away from this one shooting 68.8% at the charity stripe by making 11 of their 16 shots. On top of that, Minnesota pulled down 21 rebounds (7 offensive, 14 defensive), but finished the game with no rejections. Minnesota earned 14 assists and had 1 steal in this contest. Concerning the defense, Illinois allowed the other team to shoot 60.0% from the floor on 36 out of 60 shooting. They also dished out 14 assists in this contest while forcing the opposition into 5 turnovers and earning 2 steals. In the matter of getting rebounds, they earned 31 with 12 of them being offensive. At the free throw line, the Fighting Illini made 19 of 25 attempts for a percentage of 76.0%. Illinois finished the contest with a 61.3% FG percentage (38 of 62) and made 10 out of their 22 shots from beyond the arc.

Terrence Shannon is one guy who came through in this contest. He ended up going 52.9% from the floor and also distributed 1 assist. He was on the court for 38 minutes and also snagged 6 rebounds. He finished with 29 points on 9 of 17 shooting.

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Illinois will enter this matchup with a record of 21-7 so far this season. They turn the ball over 10.9 times per contest and as a basketball team they commit 15.2 fouls every game. As a team, Illinois is snagging 41.9 boards per game and is sitting with 371 assists for the year, which ranks 189th in the country in terms of passing the ball. The Fighting Illini are shooting 34.9% on shots from downtown (241 of 691) and 74.1% from the free throw line. They average 84.5 pts per contest (11th in the nation) while hitting 47.1% from the field.

Defensively, the Fighting Illini are forcing their opponents into 9.0 turnovers every game and they draw 18.4 fouls. They are surrendering 33.9% from 3-point land and they are 211th in college basketball in PPG allowed (72.9). The Fighting Illini defensively are giving up a shooting percentage of 42.7% (765 of 1,790) and they relinquish 32.7 rebounds per game as a squad. They currently rank 38th in D-1 in allowing assists to the opposition with 311 relinquished on the campaign.

When they last stepped on the court, the Wisconsin Badgers took a loss by a score of 74-70 when they faced Indiana. Regarding how they attacked the glass, Wisconsin allowed Indiana to get 30 in all (4 offensive). They finished 42.9% from distance by shooting 6 out of 14 and finished the game at 10 out of 15 at the charity stripe (66.7%). The Badgers permitted Indiana to knock down 29 out of their 47 tries from the floor which had them shooting 61.7% for the game. When the final whistle blew, the Badgers shot 30 for 69 from the floor which gave them a rate of 43.5%. In the matter of 3-point shots, Wisconsin made 8 out of their 26 attempts (30.8%). They were able to knock down 2 of the free throw attempts for a rate of 66.7%. Indiana committed 8 personal fouls in this contest which took the Badgers to the charity stripe for 3 attempts. They gave up possession of the ball 2 times, while earning 10 steals for this game. The Badgers collected 17 defensive boards and 9 offensive boards totaling 26 for this contest.

Chucky Hepburn ended up being a factor for the Badgers for this game. He scored 15 points in his 35 minutes on the court and tallied 6 assists in this game. He buried 6 of 12 for the contest giving him a rate of 50.0%, and accumulated 7 rebounds.

Wisconsin has a win-loss record of 18-10 so far this season. The Badgers are committing 15.7 fouls every game and they hit 76.4% from the charity stripe. They are assisting teammates 12.0 times per game (281st in the country) and they lose possession via turnover 9.8 times per game. Wisconsin has accounted for 2,076 pts for the season (74.1 per contest) and they pull in 33.9 boards per game. As an offensive unit, the Badgers are connecting on 46.2% from the field, which ranks them 98th in college hoops.

The Wisconsin defense gives up 36.5% on three-point shots (192 of 526) and opponents are converting on 71.1% of their shots from the free throw line. They have conceded 11.3 assists and 30.0 rebounds per game, which is ranked 64th and 10th in the country. The Badgers on the defensive end are ranked 94th in D-1 in PPG allowed with 68.9. They have forced 11.0 turnovers on a nightly basis and have let teams shoot 45.8% from the floor (313th in the country).

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Wisconsin

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