Northwestern Wildcats vs Illinois Fighting Illini Prediction, 2/16/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Northwestern Wildcats vs Illinois Fighting Illini

Date: Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Location: State Farm Center in Champaign, IL

TV: ESPN+

Odds/Point Spread: Northwestern (+13)

State Farm Center is the site where and the Illinois Fighting Illini (14-5) will play the Northwestern Wildcats (6-12) on Tuesday. Illinois opens this matchup as 13-point favorites. The over/under opens at 145.5.

Northwestern comes into this game with a win-loss record of 6-12 this season. They have an average of 73.2 points per game (138th in Division 1) on 44.1% from the field. The Wildcats are connecting on 36.0% on 3-point shots (155 of 431) and 72.4% from the free throw line. As a unit, Northwestern is grabbing 33.8 boards per game and has accounted for 286 assists on the season, which is 70th in college basketball in terms of passing the ball. They are turning it over 11.2 times per game and as a squad they commit 18.2 personal fouls per contest. Defensively, the Wildcats are forcing 12.4 turnovers per contest while drawing 16.6 personal fouls. They are ranked 264th in the nation in allowing assists to the opposition with 266 relinquished on the campaign. The Wildcats defense is giving up a field goal percentage of 43.0% (448 of 1,043) and they concede 36.4 boards per game as a group. They are relinquishing 33.4% on 3-point shots while they are 225th in the country in points per game allowed (72.1).

The Northwestern Wildcats played the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and ended up losing by a score of 64-50 in their last game. Northwestern wrapped up the contest having earned a 32.7% field goal percentage (18 of 55) and converted 6 of 19 shots from beyond the arc. From the free throw line, the Wildcats made 8 of 12 tries for a rate of 66.7%. Concerning pulling down rebounds, they collected 25 with 4 of them being offensive. They also recorded 9 dimes in this game while earning 8 steals and 7 blocks. In terms of the defense, Northwestern allowed 32.7% from the field on 18 out of 55 shooting. Rutgers distributed 9 dimes and had 6 steals in this game. Moreover, the Scarlet Knights collected 41 rebounds (8 offensive, 33 defensive) and added 7 blocked shots. Rutgers ended up shooting 87.5% at the free throw line by converting 14 of 16 tries. They knocked down 4 of 19 tries from long range.

Chase Audige is a guy who came through for this game. He had 11 points on 4 of 11 shooting. He played 34 mins and also collected 4 rebounds. Audige walked away from this one shooting 36.4% from the field and also distributed 2 assists. One more player that was a contributor in this game for the Wildcats was Anthony Gaines. He grabbed 6 boards and tallied 2 dimes. He went 40.0% from the floor for this game via 4-of-10 (11 points). Overall, Gaines played for 26 minutes.

Illinois has a mark of 14-5 for the season. The Fighting Illini commit 18.1 fouls every game and they hit 69.6% from the charity stripe. They are earning an assist 16.6 times per contest (26th in college hoops) and they turn it over 13.5 times per game. Illinois has totaled 1,550 pts this season (81.6 per contest) and they pull in 40.4 boards per contest. In terms of offensive execution, the Fighting Illini are connecting on 50.2% from the field, which is ranked 20th in the country. The Fighting Illini on the defensive end are ranked 144th in the nation in PPG given up with 69.0. They are forcing 11.8 turnovers on a nightly basis and have allowed teams to shoot 40.7% from the field (55th in D-1). The Illinois defense allows 33.3% on shots from beyond the perimeter (128 of 384) and their opponents are knocking down 67.1% of their free throw attempts. They concede 11.3 assists and 30.3 boards on a nightly basis, ranking them 58th and 20th in the nation.

The last time they took the court, the Illinois Fighting Illini got the victory with a final of 77-72 when they played the Nebraska Cornhuskers. The Fighting Illini collected 27 defensive rebounds and 8 offensive rebounds totaling 35 in this matchup. They also blocked 8 shots while earning 6 steals in this matchup. The Cornhuskers committed 20 fouls in this contest which got the Fighting Illini to the free throw line for a total of 22 tries. They were able to knock down 14 of the free throws for a clip of 63.6%. In regard to shots from beyond the perimeter, Illinois knocked down 7 of 21 attempts (33.3%). Overall, the Fighting Illini went 28 for 58 from the floor which had them sitting at 48.3%. The Fighting Illini permitted the Cornhuskers to bury 24 of their 65 attempts from the floor which left them with a rate of 36.9% for this contest. They finished 35.0% from beyond the perimeter by shooting 7 of 20 and walked away from this one shooting 17 of 25 at the charity stripe (68.0%). Regarding team rebounding, Illinois allowed Nebraska to pull down 36 in all (12 on the offensive side).

Ayo Dosunmu pitched in for the Fighting Illini for the matchup. He knocked down 12 out of 23 for this contest giving him a rate of 52.2%, which had him finishing with 31 points. Dosunmu had 3 boards in his 43 minutes played and tallied 6 assists for the game. One more player who came through for Illinois was Kofi Cockburn. He totaled 21 points in 40 minutes played by going 7 out of 8 shooting for the game. Cockburn walked away from this one going 87.5% from the field while also contributing 2 assists and 13 total rebounds.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Northwestern (+13)

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