Illinois vs Rutgers College Basketball Picks, Odds, Predictions 3/12/21

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Illinois Fighting Illini meet in a Big Ten conference tournament quarter-final matchup in college basketball action from the United Center on Friday night.

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights punched their ticket to the quarters after a 61-50 win over Indiana last time out. Ron Harper Jr. and Jacob Young each had a team-high 13 points with Harper Jr. shooting 4 of 11 with a pair of threes and 11 rebounds for the double-double while Young shot 5 of 13 and fished out a team-high 5 assists as well in the victory. Myles Johnson and Paul Mulcahy each had 10 points with Johnson shooting 4 of 8 with a game-high 13 rebounds and 3 blocks for the double-double while Mulcahy shot 4 of 12 with 5 rebounds to cap off the scoring in double figures for Rutgers in the victory. Geo Baker also had 7 points with a team-high 7 assists and a pair of steals as well in the winning effort for the Scarlet Knights.

The Illinois Fighting Illini come into the conference tournament as the #2 seed, finishing the regular season with a 16-4 conference record as part of their20-6 overall record this season. Ayo Dosunmu leads the Illini in scoring and assists with 20.9 PPG along with 5.2 APG as well as 6.2 RPG. Kofi Cockburn has 17.3 PPG and a team-high 9.6 RPG to lead Illinois on the glass, just falling short of a double-double per game. Trent Frazier has 10.6 PPG to cap off the trio of double-digit scorers for the team this season. As a team, Illinois is averaging 60.7 PPG on 50% shooting from the field and 38.2% from three while allowing 68.5 PPG on 40.9% shooting from the field and 33% from three this season.

Rutgers is 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games overall and 23-11-1 ATS in their last 35 games against a team with a winning record while the under is 4-0 in their last 4 games following a win. Illinois is 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games overall and 7-1 ATS in their last 8 games against a team with a winning record while the under is 14-5 in their last 19 neutral site games as an underdog.

I get the case that could be made for Rutgers and the points, but realistically, the Illini were actually doing well without Ayo Dosunmu and I just shudder to think how good they’re going to be going forward with a healthy Dosunmu back in the lineup all in all, I just think that the Illini are going to be too much for Rutgers going forward, so I’ll lay the points with Illinois in this spot.