Evansville Purple Aces vs Illinois State Redbirds Prediction, 1/1/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Evansville Purple Aces vs Illinois State Redbirds

Date: Thursday, January 1, 2026

Location: CEFCU Arena in Normal, IL

TV: ESPN+

The Illinois State Redbirds (10-3) will play the Evansville Purple Aces (4-9) at CEFCU Arena on Thursday.

The Evansville Purple Aces took the court against Drake and took a loss by a final of 66-65 in their last contest. In the matter of personal fouls, the Purple Aces walked away with 14 while Drake accounted for 20 personal fouls. They also buried 9 of their 25 attempts from three-point range. Drake finished shooting 45.5% at the charity stripe by knocking down 5 of 11 shots. Additionally, Drake collected 27 rebounds (5 offensive, 22 defensive), but wasn't able to record a rejection. Drake doled out 13 assists and had 7 steals in this contest. Pertaining to defense, Evansville allowed their opponent to shoot 45.6% from the field on 26 out of 57 shooting. They also doled out 10 assists for the contest in addition to forcing the other team into 10 turnovers and earning 8 steals. In regard to hauling in boards, they earned a total of 33 with 10 of them being offensive. At the charity stripe, the Purple Aces buried 16 of their 22 attempts for a rate of 72.7%. Evansville finished having earned a 39.6% field goal percentage (21 of 53) and converted 7 of their 23 shots from downtown.

Connor Turnbull is a guy who was a major factor for this game. He left the arena with 20 points on 8 of 18 shooting. He played for 28 minutes played and also pulled down 15 rebounds. He finished shooting 44.4% from the field and distributed 1 assist.

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Evansville comes into this one with a record of 4-9 for the season. They cough up possession 12.7 times per game and as a squad they are committing 17.2 fouls every game. As a team, Evansville is pulling down 33.8 boards per game and has accounted for 177 dimes on the campaign, which is 232nd in the nation in terms of passing the ball. The Purple Aces are hitting 31.1% on three-point shots (98 of 315) and 70.8% from the free throw line. They average 69.4 pts per game (323rd in the nation) while going 42.0% from the field.

Defensively, the Purple Aces are forcing 13.1 turnovers per contest while drawing 19.2 fouls. They are giving up 37.3% on 3-point attempts and they are ranked 180th in college hoops in points per game allowed (72.8). The Purple Aces defense is giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 43.9% (325 of 741) and they surrender 35.4 boards per contest as a team. They rank 219th in D-1 in giving up assists with 174 relinquished for the year.

In their last game, the Illinois State Redbirds walked away with a victory by a final of 85-65 when they faced Indiana State. With respect to cleaning up the glass, Illinois State allowed Indiana State to snag 25 in total (2 on the offensive side). They went 37.5% from three-point range by going 9 out of 24 and finished the contest at 16 of 27 at the charity stripe (59.3%). The Redbirds permitted Indiana State to convert 20 of their 46 attempts from the floor which left them with a shooting percentage of 43.5% for the game. When all was said and done, the Redbirds shot 34 for 65 from the field which gave them a percentage of 52.3%. Regarding shots from beyond the arc, Illinois State converted 5 of 16 tries (31.3%). They were able to knock down 12 of the free throw tries for a percentage of 80.0%. Indiana State was called for 15 fouls for this game which got the Redbirds to the charity stripe for a total of 15 attempts. They also coughed up the ball 4 times, while earning 6 steals in this matchup. The Redbirds recorded 29 defensive boards and 6 offensive rebounds for a total of 35 for this contest.

Chase Walker pitched in for the Redbirds in this matchup. He had 18 points in his 21 minutes on the court and tallied 3 dimes in the game. He converted 8 out of 13 in the matchup giving him a rate of 61.5%, and had 5 rebounds.

Illinois State has a record of 10-3 on the season. The Redbirds commit 17.0 fouls every game and they shoot 67.0% from the charity stripe. They are assisting teammates 14.8 times per game (173rd in the country) and they lose possession via turnover 10.2 times per contest. Illinois State has totaled 1,053 points for the campaign (81.0 per game) and they collect 37.7 boards per contest. In terms of offensive execution, the Redbirds are shooting 49.0% from the field, which has them ranked 50th in Division 1.

The Redbirds defensively are ranked 61st in Division 1 in points allowed per contest with 67.3. They have forced 11.3 turnovers per game and have allowed teams to shoot 41.8% from the floor (106th in college). The Illinois State defense gives up 30.4% on three-point shots (87 of 286) and their opponents are connecting on 64.8% of their shots from the charity stripe. They concede 11.5 assists and 32.5 boards per contest, which is ranked 60th and 88th in the country.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Illinois State

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