College Basketball Picks

Minnesota vs. Illinois Pick – Basketball Predictions & Odds 1/16/23

Illinois Fighting Illini (12-5) vs. Minnesota Golden Gophers (7-8)
January 16, 2023 6:00 pm EDT
The Line: Minnesota Golden Gophers +9 / Illinois Fighting Illini -9; Over/Under: +137.5
(Get latest betting odds)

The Illinois Fighting Illini and the Minnesota Golden Gophers meet in college basketball action from the Williams Arena on Monday.

The Illinois Fighting Illini will look to build on a 75-66 win over Michigan State last time out. Terrence Shannon Jr. leads the Illini in scoring with 18 PPG along with 5.8 RPG and 3.1 APG while Dain Dainja has 10.4 PPG with 5.9 RPG. Coleman Hawkins has 10,1 PPG and Matthew Mayer has 10.6 PPG to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for Illinois this year, with Hawkins logging a team-high 6.2 RPG and 3.5 APG to lead the Illini in rebounding and assists. As a team, Illinois is averaging 76.8 PPG on 46% shooting from the field, 33.2% from three and 67.2% from the foul line this season.

The Minnesota Golden Gophers will look to build on a 70-67 win over Ohio State last time out. Dawson Garcia leads the Gophers in scoring and rebounding with 15.5 PPG and 6.7 RPG while Jamison Battle has 13.4 PPG with 3.9 RPG and Ta’lon Cooper has 10.7 PPG with 4.3 RPG and a team-high 6.3 APG to lead Minnesota in assists to round out the group of double-digit scorers for Minnesota this season. As a team, Minnesota is averaging 64.7 PPG on 43.6% shooting from the field, 33.3% from three and 59.2% from the foul line this season.

Illinois is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall and 3-7 ATS in their last 10 Monday games while the under is 6-1 in their last 7 games following an ATS win. Minnesota is 1-4 ATS in their last 5 home games and 1-5 ATS in their last 6 home games against a team with a losing road record while the under is 5-1 in their last 6 games overall.

I get the case to be made for either side in this game here, but I’m backing the Illini here. Sure, Minnesota’s had some close calls here and there and they got the win over Ohio State last time out, but I’m not looking to back Minnesota really as I just don’t feel like this is a good Gophers team. Illinois has won and covered in the last four meetings handily and they’ve taken care of business against lesser teams on the road. I’ll side with Illinois here.

Chris Ruffolo's Free Pick: Illinois -9

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Chris Ruffolo

Chris joined the Sports Chat Place team in August 2016 and has a proven system that combines multiple analytical and situational statistics and trends to give out thousands of winning picks over the last three years with winning records across all of the top leagues, Follow Chris Ruffolo on Twitter @ruffthepickdawg

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