The Indiana State Sycamores and Illinois State Redbirds meet Thursday in the college basketball MVC Tournament at the Enterprise Center. The Indiana State Sycamores look to snap a five-game losing streak. The Illinois State Redbirds need a win after losing 10 of their last 12 games.
The Indiana State Sycamores are averaging 71 points on 44.3 percent shooting and allowing 72.4 points on 44.1 percent shooting. Cooper Neese is averaging 15.4 points and 4.3 rebounds, while Cameron Henry is averaging 14.5 points and 5.6 rebounds. Micah Thomas is the third double-digit scorer and Xavier Bledson is grabbing 3.3 rebounds. The Indiana State Sycamores are shooting 33.7 percent from beyond the arc and 78 percent from the free throw line. The Indiana State Sycamores are allowing 35.6 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 31.1 rebounds per game.
The Illinois State Redbirds are averaging 75 points on 45.5 percent shooting and allowing 75.3 points on 44.2 percent shooting. Antonio Reeves is averaging 20.2 points and 3.5 rebounds, while Sy Chatman is averaging 13.5 points and 6.1 rebounds. Josiah Strong is the third double-digit scorer and Mark Freeman is grabbing 2.7 rebounds. The Illinois State Redbirds are shooting 37 percent from beyond the arc and 74 percent from the free throw line. The Illinois State Redbirds are allowing 34.8 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 32 rebounds per game.
The Sycamores are 15-6 ATS in their last 21 Thursday games and 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games overall. The Redbirds are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 Thursday games and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall. The over is 4-1 in Sycamores last 5 overall. The over is 4-1 in Redbirds last 5 neutral site games. The favorite is 4-0 ATS in the last 4 meetings.
Neither team is playing well right now, and you could make a case for either side. With that said, the Illinois State Redbirds have been slightly more impressive this season, and they smoked Indiana State last week by 20 points. The Indiana State Sycamores lose in the underdog role by an average of 7.4 points. Illinois State has been profitable on the year, and Indiana State is 11-15-1 ATS on the year. I’ll lay the bucket with the Redbirds.