Missouri vs Illinois 12/22/21 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Illinois Fighting Illini and Missouri Tigers will square off at the Enterprise Center this Wednesday night in College Basketball action.

The Illinois Fighting Illini improved to 8-3 on the season after defeating the St. Francis (PA) Red Flash, 106-48, this past Saturday. Illinois made a program record 18 three-pointers and had no trouble securing the victory after going into halftime with a 47-23 lead. Illinois shot 65.5% from the field & 52.9% from beyond the arc while holding St. Francis (PA) to just 26.2% shooting from the field & 33.3% from beyond the arc. Leading the way for the Fighting Illini was Kofi Cockburn who had a double-double with 21 points, 11 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks, & 1 steal.

On the season, Illinois is averaging 80.5 ppg on 46.9% shooting from the field. The Fighting Illini are averaging 10.4 three-pointers per game on 39.0% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, Illinois has been led by Kofi Cockburn (21.4 ppg, 11.9 rpg, 1.1 apg), Alfonso Plummer (16.3 ppg, 2.2 rpg), Jacob Grandison (13.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 1.8 apg), & Trent Frazier (11.3 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 3.1 apg, 1.6 spg).

Defensively, Illinois is allowing their opponents to average 65.8 ppg on 39.1% shooting from the field. The Fighting Illini have a rebound margin of 13.1 and a turnover margin of -3.9.

The Missouri Tigers are improved to 6-5 on the season after defeating the Utah Utes, 83-75, this past Saturday. Missouri was solid defensively down the stretch against Utah and was able to pull away later after closing out the final 3:05 of regulation on a 12-4 run. Missouri shot 43.9% from the field & 19.0% from beyond the arc while allowing Utah to shoot 42.1% from the field & 40.0% from beyond the arc. Leading the way for the Tigers was Kobe Brown who had 27 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, & 1 steal.

On the season, Missouri is averaging 67.9 ppg on 41.6% shooting from the field. The Tigers are averaging 4.9 three-pointers per game on 24.5% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, Missouri has been led by Kobe Brown (15.0 ppg, 9.1 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.7 spg), Amari Davis (11.2 ppg, 3.2 rpg), Javon Pickett (9.5 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.7 apg), & Ronnie DeGray III (8.8 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 1.1 spg).

Defensively, Missouri is allowing their opponents to average 68.0 ppg on 44.3% shooting from the field. The Tigers have a rebound margin of 5.8 and a turnover margin of 0.2.

The Fighting Illini are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 Wednesday games & 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall. The Tigers are 4-10 ATS in their last 14 games overall & just 1-4 ATS in their last 5 neutral site games.

Illinois had a slow start to their season, however, the Fighting Illini have won 6 of their last 7 games and have been led by their offense that ranks t-32^nd in scoring offense, 67^th in FG%, & 17^th in 3P-FG%. Missouri picked up a nice win against Utah, however, this is still a team that is below average on both ends of the court as come into this game ranked just 262^nd in scoring offense, 285^th in FG%, & t-263^rd in defensive FG%.

Missouri got a nice win against Utah, however, this is still a team that recently lost by 21 points to Liberty & 37 points to Kansas and between the fact that Illinois has the best player on the court in Kofi Cockburn and that their offense should be able to put up plenty of points against the Tigers defense, I think the play here is to take Illinois to cover this large spread. Good Luck!