Chicago State Cougars vs Illinois Fighting Illini Prediction, 11/26/2020 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Chicago State Cougars vs Illinois Fighting Illini

Date: Thursday, November 26, 2020

Location: State Farm Center in Champaign, IL

TV: Big Ten Network

Odds/Point Spread: Chicago State (+36.5)

State Farm Center is the venue where and the Illinois Fighting Illini (21-10 last year) will take on the Chicago State Cougars (4-25 last season) on Thursday. Illinois opens this contest as 36.5-point favorites. The O/U is set at 145.5.

Chicago State will enter this game after finishing with a win-loss mark of 4-25 last season. The Cougars hit on 32.0% on 3-point shots (162 of 507) and 72.1% from the free throw line. They had an average of 61.4 points per outing (345th in the country) while hitting 41.2% from the field. They turned the ball over 17.7 times per contest and as a squad committed 20.4 personal fouls on a nightly basis. As a team, Chicago State grabbed 29.2 rebounds per contest and earned 300 dimes last season, which ranked 347th in the nation in terms of passing. When they were on defense, the Cougars forced 11.8 turnovers per contest while drawing 18.8 fouls. They were 329th in college basketball in giving up assists with 486 surrendered last year. The Cougars defensively gave up a shooting percentage of 48.1% (805 of 1,674) and they surrendered 34.5 boards per game as a unit. They conceded 39.7% from beyond the arc and they were ranked 347th in the country in points per game allowed (81.8).

The Chicago State Cougars stepped onto the hardwood against the UMKC Kangaroos and took a loss by a final of 80-58 the last time they stepped onto the court. Chicago State walked away from the contest with a 48.6% FG percentage (17 of 35) and converted 6 out of their 16 3-point attempts. When shot from the charity stripe, the Cougars buried 18 of 23 attempts for a rate of 78.3%. In the matter of pulling down rebounds, they earned a total of 22 with 2 of them being on the offensive end. They also recorded 9 assists in the matchup in addition to having 1 steals and 1 rejections. When it comes to the defense, Chicago State allowed 48.6% from the field on 17 out of 35. UMKC totaled 14 dimes and 8 steals for the game. On top of that, the Kangaroos totaled 26 rebounds (11 offensive, 15 defensive) and had 1 blocked shots. UMKC finished the game shooting 66.7% at the charity stripe by making 16 of their 24 tries. They also converted 8 of 23 tries from distance.

Andrew Lewis is one guy who was a major factor in the matchup. He was able to score 13 points on 4 of 6 shooting. He saw the court for 33 minutes and also grabbed 4 boards. Lewis ended up shooting 66.7% from the field and also recorded 2 assists. An additional guy that saw the court a lot in this contest for the Cougars was Carlo Marble. He totaled 3 boards and also accounted for 2 dimes. He finished 100.0% from the floor in this game by shooting 2-of-2 (5 points). At the conclusion of this game, Marble played 26 min.

Illinois had a win-loss mark of 21-10 last season. As an offensive team, the Fighting Illini hit 44.3% from the field, which was ranked 145th in college hoops. Illinois accounted for 2,239 points over the course of last season (72.2 per contest) and they averaged 39.5 boards per game. They earned an assist 13.3 times per game (163rd in the nation) and they turned it over 12.1 times per game. The Fighting Illini committed 16.0 personal fouls per game and they connected on 72.8% from the charity stripe. The Fighting Illini on defense were ranked 66th in D-1 in PPG given up with 65.3. The Illinois defense gave up 33.2% on shots from 3-point land (200 of 602) and opponents made 72.3% of their free throw shots. They forced 11.6 TO's per game and allowed teams to shoot 41.5% from the field (94th in college basketball). They gave up 11.3 dimes and 32.0 rebounds every game, which was ranked 77th and 44th in college hoops.

The last time they took the court, the Illinois Fighting Illini walked away with a victory by a final of 78-76 against the Iowa Hawkeyes. The Fighting Illini corralled 16 defensive rebounds and 11 offensive rebounds for a total of 27 for this contest. They blocked 2 attempts while getting 6 steals in this matchup. The Hawkeyes earned 18 fouls for the game which got the Fighting Illini to the free throw line for a total of 17 tries. They were able to knock down 11 of the free throw tries for a rate of 64.7%. Pertaining to 3-pointers, Illinois converted 7 of 24 tries (29.2%). When the final whistle blew, the Fighting Illini shot 30 for 61 from the field which had them shooting 49.2%. The Fighting Illini allowed the Hawkeyes to knock down 26 out of 52 attempts from the floor which gave them a percentage of 50.0% for this game. They finished shooting 47.4% from 3-point land by connecting on 9 out of 19 and walked away from this one shooting 15 out of 15 from the free throw line (100.0%). In relation to cleaning the glass, Illinois allowed Iowa to get 30 in total (5 offensive).

Ayo Dosunmu played big minutes for the Fighting Illini for the matchup. He knocked down 7 out of 16 in the game for a field goal rate of 43.8%, which had him sitting at 17 points. Dosunmu pulled down 7 rebounds in his 40 minutes and earned 8 assists for this game. One more player that played a role for Illinois was Kofi Cockburn. He ended up scoring 12 points in his 26 minutes on the hardwood via 5 out of 8 from the floor in this game. Cockburn walked away from this one going 62.5% from the floor as well as collecting 2 assists and 8 rebounds.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Illinois (-36.5)

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