Illinois Fighting Illini vs Minnesota Golden Gophers Prediction, 2/20/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Illinois Fighting Illini vs Minnesota Golden Gophers

Date: Saturday, February 20, 2021

Location: Williams Arena in Minneapolis, MN

TV: ESPN+

Odds/Point Spread: Illinois (-4.5)

The Illinois Fighting Illini (15-5) are headed to Williams Arena on Saturday where they'll meet the Minnesota Golden Gophers (13-9). Illinois opens this game as 4.5-point favorites. The O/U has been set at 148.5.

Illinois heads into this contest with a mark of 15-5 so far this season. They are giving up possession 13.6 times per contest and as a group are committing 18.0 personal fouls on a nightly basis. As a team, Illinois is grabbing 40.1 rebounds per contest and has totaled 332 assists on the year, which has them ranked 27th in Division 1 in terms of passing the rock. The Fighting Illini are connecting on 38.9% on shots beyond the perimeter (149 of 383) and 68.6% from the free throw line. They have an average of 81.2 points per outing (21st in Division 1) while hitting 50.3% from the floor. When they are on defense, the Fighting Illini are forcing 11.8 turnovers per contest while drawing 19.7 fouls. They are 132nd in college hoops in allowing assists with 218 conceded on the year. The Fighting Illini defensively are giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 40.7% (497 of 1,220) and they relinquish 30.4 rebounds per contest as a basketball team. They are conceding 32.8% on shots from beyond the perimeter while they are 139th in college basketball in opponents PPG (68.9).

The Illinois Fighting Illini faced the Northwestern Wildcats and went home with a win by a final score of 73-66 in their last game. Illinois finished with a 51.9% FG percentage (27 out of 52) and made 8 out of their 21 three-point attempts. From the charity stripe, the Fighting Illini buried 11 of their 22 tries for a rate of 50.0%. When discussing rebounding, they compiled 32 with 8 of them being of the offensive variety. They also doled out 16 assists for this game in addition to having 5 steals and 2 rejections. Pertaining to defense, Illinois allowed the other team to go 51.9% from the floor on 27 out of 52 shooting. Northwestern distributed 4 dimes and had 6 steals in this contest. Additionally, the Wildcats snagged 30 rebounds (6 offensive, 24 defensive) and added 2 blocks. Northwestern finished 75.0% from the charity stripe by making 6 of 8 tries. They also made 6 out of their 25 attempts from three-point range.

Kofi Cockburn is one guy who was a major factor in this matchup. He ended up with 17 points on 7 out of 11 shooting. He played for 23 mins played and also totaled 10 boards. Cockburn finished 63.6% from the field but finished the game without a dime. An additional guy that was a major factor in the matchup for the Fighting Illini was Ayo Dosunmu. He grabbed 2 rebounds and also accounted for 5 dimes. He finished the contest at 55.6% from the field in the game by going 5-of-9 (13 points). Overall, Dosunmu was on the court for 38 min.

Minnesota has a mark of 13-9 for the season. When it comes to offensive execution, the Golden Gophers are connecting on 40.3% from the field, which is ranked 327th in Division 1. Minnesota has tallied 1,646 pts this season (74.8 per game) and they average 36.8 rebounds per contest. They are getting an assist 14.3 times per contest (109th in college basketball) and they are turning it over 10.7 times per game. The Golden Gophers are committing 18.6 fouls per contest and they hit 75.0% from the free throw line. The Golden Gophers on defense are ranked 238th in Division 1 in PPG given up with 72.6. They have forced 13.5 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 43.4% from the floor (181st in the nation). The Minnesota defense concedes 33.6% on 3-point shots (142 of 422) and their opponents are knocking down 70.7% of their free throw shots. They allow 14.4 dimes and 39.8 rebounds every game, which is ranked 271st and 332nd in those categories on the defensive end.

When they last stepped on the hardwood, the Minnesota Golden Gophers took a defeat with a final score of 82-72 against the Indiana Hoosiers. The Golden Gophers earned 10 defensive boards and 13 offensive rebounds for a total of 23 in the matchup. They rejected 4 shots while recording 8 steals for the matchup. The Hoosiers earned 23 personal fouls for the game which took the Golden Gophers to the charity stripe for a total of 29 shots. They were able to knock down 20 of them for a rate of 69.0%. With respect to three-point attempts, Minnesota buried 4 out of their 20 attempts (20.0%). When the final whistle blew, the Golden Gophers finished shooting 24 out of 60 from the field which gave them a rate of 40.0%. The Golden Gophers allowed the Hoosiers to bury 26 out of 45 attempts from the field which had them at 57.8% for the game. They finished 58.3% from 3-point land by shooting 7 out of 12 and walked away from this one shooting 23 of 30 at the free throw line (76.7%). In regard to cleaning the glass, Minnesota permitted Indiana to grab 31 in total (9 on the offensive glass).

Marcus Carr ended up being a factor for the Golden Gophers in the matchup. He converted 7 of 16 for this contest for a field goal percentage of 43.8%, which gave him 19 points. Carr had 3 boards in his 36 minutes and had 4 dimes in the game. Someone else who came through for Minnesota was Jamal Mashburn. He notched 19 points in his 35 minutes on the court by way of 7 of 16 from the floor for the contest. Mashburn finished going 43.8% from the floor while also contributing 2 assists and 3 total rebounds.

So what is Tonights Parlay prediction?

Parlay's Pundit's Pick: Take Minnesota (+4.5) and under 148.5 points

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