Central Michigan vs Western Illinois 12/5/21 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds
Western Illinois Leathernecks (7-2) vs. Central Michigan Chippewas (1-6)
December 5, 2021 2:00 pm EDT
The Line: Central Michigan Chippewas +5 / Western Illinois Leathernecks -5; Over/Under: -150.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Western Illinois Leathernecks and the Central Michigan Chippewas meet in college basketball action from McGuirk Arena on Sunday afternoon.
The Western Illinois Leathernecks come into this game looking to build on an 81-64 win over UT-Martin last time out. Colton Sandage leads the Leathernecks in scoring and assists with 15.9 PPG and 3.6 APG while Will Carius has 15.7 PPG and Luka Barisic has 15 PPG with 4.6 RPG. Trenton Massner has 13.6 PPG with a team-high 6.6 RPG to make up the group of double-digit scorers for WIU this season while Tamell Pearson has 8.6 PPG and 6.4 RPG as well this season. As a team, Western Illinois is averaging 81.4 PPG on 44.1% shooting from the field, 37.6% from three and 65.7% from the foul line while allowing 72 PPG on 42.5% shooting from the field and 33.8% from three this season.
The Central Michigan Chippewas will be out to bounce back from a 78-45 loss to Xavier last time out. Jermaine Jackson Jr. leads the Chips in scoring with 11.7 PPG and 3 APG as the lone double-digit scorer for CMU so far this season. Harrison Henderson has 8.9 PPG with 4.4 RPG while Brian Taylor has a team-high 4.7 RPG as well this year. As a team, Central Michigan is averaging 60.1 PPG on 38.6% shooting from the field, 34.1% from three and 62.2% from thr foul line while allowing 83.4 PPG on 49.1% shooting from the field and 34.5% from three this season.
Western Illinois is 8-1 ATS in their last 9 games following a win and 7-1 ATS in their last 8 games against a team with a losing record while the under is 4-1 in their last 5 games overall. Central Michigan is 1-4-1 ATS in their last 6 games overall and 1-5 ATS in their last 6 home games while the under is 4-0 in their last 4 games following a loss.
Is it ideal to have to lay this kind of number with Western Illinois on the road? No, but it sure beats the alternative of having to back the Chippewas with Confidence. Something wrong with the Chips early on this season and maybe it’ll get fixed in conference play, but right now, against a WIU team that’s playing some of their best ball in recent mempry, I’m not looking for improvement from CMU here. Give me the Leathernecks.
