Illinois State vs Bradley 1/16/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Bradley Braves and the Illinois State Redbirds meet Sunday in college basketball action from Redbird Arena. Bradley is 8-9 so far this year. The Braves beat Evansville in their last game. As for Illinois State, they’re sitting at 8-8 and are fresh off a loss to Drake. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

Bradley stumbled to a 1-5 start this year but then hit a 6-1 run in late November. The wins in that time were over Maine, Northern Iowa, SIUE, St. Josephs, Sam Houston and UTEP. After three more losses, the Braves managed another win over Evansville. 

In the Evansville game, the Braves didn’t have much trouble. Bradley scored 36 points in the first half and 43 more in the second for a dominant 79-47 win. Tops in scoring was Rienk Mast with 23 points, 13 rebounds and two assists in 29 minutes of work. 

Over on the Illinois State side, they kicked off the year on an 8-5 run. The Redbirds lost to Eastern Michigan, Murray State, Saint Louis, Buffalo and Jackson State in that time. The last three games have all been losses to Wisconsin, Valparaiso and Drake, however. 

Matched up against Drake on Wednesday, the Redbirds hung around well in the first half but couldn’t keep up from there. Illinois State ended up with an 86-75 loss. Kendall Lewis led the way on 20 points with four rebounds and two assists. 

The Redbirds are 4-9-1 ATS in their last 14 at home and 3-9 ATS in their last 12 Sunday games. Illinois State is 5-0 ATS in their last five overall. 

Meanwhile, the Braves are 4-1 ATS in their last five road games and 8-3 ATS in their last 11 overall. Bradley is 0-5 ATS in their last five Sunday games. 

PICK: I’m going to try Bradley here. It’s been a spotty 1-3 run for the Braves over the last four games, but the good news is they’re still scoring pretty well. Bradley has hit 69 or more points in each of the last seven outings, going 4-3 in that time. 

As for Illinois State, they’ve had some tough games lately themselves. The Redbirds offense has done well however, with 75 or more points in each of their last seven. I like this one to be a higher-scoring and competitive matchup. If Bradley keeps up the decent play I think they’ll push out a cover. Should be a fun one to watch.