Illinois State vs Indiana State 1/4/23 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Indiana State Sycamores and the Illinois State Redbirds meet Wednesday in college basketball action from Redbird Arena. Indiana State is currently 11-4 on the year. The Sycamores beat Valparaiso in their last outing. As for Illinois State, they’re 6-9 on the season and coming off a loss to Northern Iowa. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

Indiana State was a nice 9-1 after 10 games this year, taking a lone loss to UMKC on November 22. The Sycamores are just 2-3 since then however, beating Evansville and Valparaiso in that time. 

On Sunday versus Valparaiso, Indiana State was up 36-24 going into the second half. The Sycamores hit a 32-26 run from there and won it 68-50. Cooper Neese led the team on 16 points, and Cade McKnight doubled on 13 points and 11 boards. 

Over on the Illinois State side, they were 4-6 after 10 games with wins over Eastern Illinois, Northwestern State, Belmont and Eastern Michigan. The Redbirds are 2-3 since then with wins over SIUE and Chicago State. 

In their Saturday matchup versus Northern Iowa, the Redbirds trailed 31-25 by the break. Illinois State kept the pace from there but still lost 66-60. Liam McChesney topped the team on 22 points with four rebounds. 

PICK: I’m going to stay with Indiana State. The Sycamores stormed out of the gate across their first 10 games this year but they’ve cooled off over the last five outings. The good news is that Indiana State has been within six points in three of their four losses so far, and they’ve scored 68 or more points in nine of their last 10 outings. As for Illinois State, they’ve been below 70 points in four straight games and will have to press the offense to cover in this one. I don’t think the Redbirds will quite get there.