The Illinois Fighting Illini take on the Missouri Tigers for what’s expected to be one of the best NCAA basketball games today. With the way the Illinois Fighting Illini have played, it’s a game that they should be able to come away with. They currently sit at 9-3 on the season.
However, Missouri is also an above-average team, and that’s been proven by their 11-1 start on the season. Perhaps, the rankings are not favoring them at the moment in the college basketball standings, but the team is as legit as they come, and they deserve to be ranked sooner rather than later.
Let’s break it down with our Illinois vs Missouri Tigers betting and find the best bet in this game.
Last Game Records
Missouri is going to be coming into this one after an impressive 68-66 win against the UFC Knights. The Missouri Tigers schedule to start the season has been impressive, and this team has continued to find ways to get the job done.
They have wins over teams like UPenn, Wichita State, and others. Illinois has been an absolute force to start the season, and that was expected coming into the year.
They’ve beaten teams like UCLA, Syracuse, Texas, and some other impressive programs. After an impressive 68-47 win against the Alabama A&M Bulldogs, they come into this one.
Matchup Information
Illinois Fighting Illini vs. Missouri Tigers Betting Analysis
Illinois Content
Illinois has some of the top college basketball players in the country, and the one guy that’s going to make some noise for this team is certainly Matthew Mayer. The Baylor senior transfer has been impressive during his first few games with the Fighting Illini as he comes into this one averaging 9.2 points, 4.4 rebounds, and shooting 44.6% from the field.
Although he has had games throughout the season where he’s struggled, he’s now scored at least 21 points in two of his last three games.
When looking at the Illinois Fighting Illini basketball betting, this team has been somewhat profitable to start the season despite dealing with a few tough spreads. We have to factor in what they’ve been able to do against the spread this season, and I’ve enjoyed what I’ve seen out of them, which is something I’m going to keep in the back of my mind with our Illinois vs Missouri Tigers betting.
Guys like Matthew Mayer will have to continue impressing Illinois if they want to win this game, as this is certainly one of the more difficult ones on their NCAAB schedule as they head to Big Ten play.
Missouri Content
Missouri has also been impressive this season, and it might be time to start talking about what this team has been able to do. They only have one loss on the season, and it was against a Kansas team widely regarded as one of the best in America.
They have a few impressive college basketball players, and they’ve also dealt with some players on their college basketball injury report. Now that they’re finally starting to get healthy, the one guy that we’re going to be looking for is Nick Honor. He comes into this one after an impressive 17-point performance against UCF and will look to continue that against an elite Illinois defense.
The former Clemson Tiger decided to transfer to 2 Missouri, and it looks like he made the right decision, as he’s currently averaging 11.1 points per game and shooting 51.3% from the field. When thinking about our college basketball picks, he’s certainly somebody that’s going to be in the back of our minds.
Updates
At the moment, both teams are clean on the injury report side, and that’s perfect news for us with our Illinois vs Missouri Tigers betting. This is something that we want to continue checking throughout the day as we make sure that we have the best possible analysis for this bet.
Illinois Fighting Illini vs. Missouri Tigers Betting Preview
The NCAAB odds coming to this game are going to favor Illinois at -7 on the spread line. Considering that they’ve been arguably a top-10 program in the country to start the season, it certainly makes sense.
However, we have to remember that this Missouri team is one of those pesky NCAA basketball teams and has a legitimate chance of covering and possibly winning this game outright. They come in at +7 on the spread line and +195 on the moneyline. The over/under is currently started at 154.
Illinois Fighting Illini vs. Missouri Tigers Betting Prediction
We’re finally here with our best bet for this game and the bet that I’m going to be looking to take Illinois – 7. Although I have been impressed with what Missouri has done on both sides of the basketball this season, their recent blowout loss against Kansas is something that I want to keep my eye on.
That was a rough loss for them and showed that they might not be as good as their record shows. While I believe they deserve to be ranked soon if they can start competing with some of these top teams, I don’t imagine that happening on Thursday night versus Illinois.
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