Illinois State vs Indiana State 2/26/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Indiana State Sycamores and the Illinois State Redbirds meet in college basketball action from the Redbird Arena on Saturday afternoon.

The Indiana State Sycamores will look to bounce back after an 88-82 loss to Northern Iowa last time out. Cooper Neese leads the Sycamores in scoring with 15.9 PPG along with 4.4 RPG while Cameron Henry has 14.9 PPG with a team-high 5.8 RPG and 2.8 APG. Micah Thomas has 10.2 PPG to cap off the trio of double-digit scorers for Indiana State while Xavier Bledson has 9.5 PPG with a team-high 3.8 APG and Kailex Stephens has 9.6 PPG with 5.5 RPG as well on the year. As a team, Indiana State is averaging 71.2 PPG on 44.5% shooting from the field, 34% from three and 78.2% from the foul line while allowing 71.9 PPG on 43.7% shooting from the field and 35.4% from three this season.

The Illinois State Redbirds will look to snap a five-game losing streak after a 90-69 road loss to Southern Illinois last time out. Antonio Reeves leads the Redbirds in scoring with 20 PPG along with 3.4 RPG while Sy Chatman has 13.5 PPG and a team-high 6.1 RPG to lead Illinois State on the glass. Josiah Strong has 11.7 PPG to make up the trio of double-digit scorers for Illinois State up to this point in the season while Kendall Lewis has 9.5 PPG with 5.7 RPG and Mark Freeman has 8.8 PPG with a team-high 3. APG to lead the Redbirds in the assist category. As a team, Illinois State is averaging 74.6 PPG on 45.1% shooting from the field, 36.8% from three and 73.6% from the foul line while allowing 75.6 PPG on 44.3% shooting from the field and 35.2% from three this season.

Indiana State is 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games as an underdog and 1-9-1 ATS in their last 11 games following a loss while the under is 7-1 in their last 8 games against a team with a winning percentage below .400. Illinois State is 7-2 ATS in their last 9 home games and 3-11-1 ATS in their last 15 Saturday games while the under is 4-1 in their last 5 games overall.

I get how you could make a case either way here and while I’m not running to the window to bet this game, I lean towards Illinois State here. Indiana State’s had a bad run of form, especially from a cover perspective as of late, and Illinois State’s done their best covering work at home this season. Also, the home team and the favorite have had all of the head to head success in this matchup, so give me Illinois State laying the bucket at home here.