College Basketball Picks

Illinois vs Minnesota Pick – Basketball Predictions & Odds 2/7/23

Minnesota Golden Gophers (7-15) vs. Illinois Fighting Illini (16-7)
February 7, 2023 8:30 pm EDT
The Line: Illinois Fighting Illini -15.5 / Minnesota Golden Gophers +15.5; Over/Under: 135
(Get latest betting odds)

The Minnesota Golden Gophers and the Illinois Fighting Illini meet Tuesday in college basketball action from State Farm Center. Minnesota is 7-15 overall this year. The Gophers lost to Maryland on Saturday. As for Illinois, they’re 16-7 on the season and coming off a loss to Iowa. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

Minnesota Golden Gophers

Minnesota opened up the year on a sketchy run, going just 7-8 over their first 15 games. The Gophers haven’t had any luck in the win column since then, falling to Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Indiana, Northwestern, Rutgers and Maryland in succession. 

Back on Saturday versus Maryland, Minnesota was down 41-21 by halftime. The Gophers were outscored 40-25 in the second for an 81-46 defeat. Tops in scoring was Pharrel Payne with 14 points and six rebounds. 

Illinois Fighting Illini

Over on the Illinois side, they lost to only Virginia, Maryland, Penn State, Missouri and Northwestern in their first 16 games. The Illini are 5-2 since then with wins over Minnesota, Michigan State, Ohio State, Nebraska and Wisconsin. 

In their matchup versus Iowa on Saturday, Illinois took a slim 36-35 edge into the break. The Illini were outscored 46-43 from there however and lost 81-79. Matthew Mayer was the top team scorer with 21 points and five rebounds. 

ANDREW’S FREE PICK 

I was going to go with Illinois in this one, but I’ll probably stick with Minnesota. The line seems thick enough for the Gophers to get in there. The Illini gave Iowa a good game at Carver-Hawkeye in their last appearance, shooting 49.1 percent from the floor with a 37-25 rebounding advantage. Illinois (and their 14 turnovers) ultimately couldn’t pull off the win, though. The last time these teams met up back on January 16, Illinois pulled off a 78-60 win at Williams Arena. The Illini are generally scoring pretty well these days, so if they can hit the 70-point mark or so I think they’ll be fine on a win. I think Minnesota can stay close enough to cover, though.

Andrew's Free Pick: Minnesota Golden Gophers +15.5

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Andrew

Andrew has been writing about college, professional and fantasy sports betting since 2013. Andrew's goal is to break down the complicated numbers and trends into a language that's easily accessible to novice sports bettors and seasoned professionals alike.

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