Valparaiso vs Illinois State 1/2/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Illinois State Redbirds and the Valparaiso Beacons meet in college basketball action from the Athletics-Recreation Center on Sunday afternoon.

The Illinois State Redbirds will be looking to rebound from an 88-85 loss to Wisconsin in their last game. Antonio Reeves leads the Redbirds in scoring with 20.9 PPG along with 4.3 RPG while Sy Chatman has 14.9 PPG and a team-high 6.6 RPG to lead Illinois State on the glass. Isaiah Strong has 13 PPG to make up the trio of double-digit scorers for Illinois State up to this point in the season while Mark Freeman has 9.5 PPG with a team-high 3.9 APG to lead the Redbirds in the assist category. As a team, Illinois State is averaging 80.7 PPG on 46.4% shooting from the field, 38.8% from three and 73.2% from the foul line while allowing 77.7 PPG on 42.5% shooting from the field and 38.3% from three this season.

The Valparaiso Beacons will try to build off of an 88-66 win over William & Mary last time out. Kobe King’s tallied 16 PPG in four games while Ben Krikke has 15 PPG in 8 games for the Beacons this season. Sheldon Edwards has 12.2 PPG and Trevor Anderson’s got 10.5 PPG with a team-high 2.7 APG to lead Valpo in assists and Thomas Kithier has 10.1 PPG with a team-high 6.5 RPG and Kevion Taylor’s also adding 10.5 PPG to make up the group of double-digit scorers for Valparaiso while also leading the Beacons on the glass. As a team, Valparaiso is averaging 74.2 PPG on 47.6% shooting from the field, 34,9% from three and 72.7% from the foul line while allowing 66.5 PPG on 42.6% shooting from the field and 34.8% from three this season.

Illinois State is 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games following a loss and 2-9 ATS in their last 11 Sunday games while the over is 4-0 in their last 4 road games. Valparaiso is 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games overall and 2-7 ATS in their last 9 games following a win while the under is 21-8 in their last 29 games overall.

I’d like to give Illinois State the benefit of the doubt here after taking Wisconsin to the wire, but the reality is that they’ve had little luck against Valparaiso over the years as the Beacons have won seven of the eight meetings between the two and have covered in six of the eight meetings as well. I look for Valpo’s home defense to be the difference here as they get the win and cover in this one.