Illinois Fighting Illini vs Iowa Hawkeyes Prediction, Picks and Game Preview - 12/06/2021

Game Time: 7:00 pm ET, Monday, December 6, 2021

Venue:  Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Iowa City, IA 

Where to Watch:  Fox Sports 1

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  Illinois +3, Iowa -3; Over/Under:  152 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  Illinois +3, Iowa -3; Over/Under:  152 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  Illinois +2.5, Iowa -2.5; Over/Under:  152.5 points

 

Illinois Fighting Illini:  6-2 (3rd place, Big Ten)

Iowa Hawkeyes:  7-1 (10th place, Big Ten)

 

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Illinois Fighting Illini:  4-1 last 5

Iowa Hawkeyes:  4-1 last 5

 

 

 

Illinois is coming into this game with a 6-2 record overall and they are 0-1 in their road games this season where they will be in this game. This will be their 2nd conference matchup of the year and they are currently 1-0 in their conference games this season. Their last loss came against the Cincinnati Bearcats and they have gone on a 4 game winning streak since then with wins coming against the Kansas State Wildcats, the UTRGV Vaqueros, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in their last game. Alfonso Plummer led the team in points in that game with 24 while Jacob Grandison was next on the team off the bench with 16 points. Kofi Cockburn also scored 13 points in that one as well. Da'Monte Williams and Trent Frazier both led the team in assists in that game with 5 each while Cockburn led the team in rebounds with 15. They were 48.5% from the field, 36.4% from 3-point range, and 90.9% from the free throw line with their shooting in that game. Their offense is averaging 76.8 PPG and their defense is allowing their opponents to average 63.8 PPG against them. Illinois has an ATS record of 3-5 this season and their O/U record is 5-3.

 

 

Iowa is coming into this game with a 7-1 record overall and they are 6-0 in their home games this season where they will be in this game. This will be the 2nd conference matchup on their schedule this year and they are currently 0-1 in their conference games this season. They only have 1 loss all season and they are coming off of that loss in their last game which snapped a 7 game winning streak that they were on. Their 7 wins came against the Longwood Lancers, the Kansas City Roos, the North Carolina Central Eagles, the Alabama State Hornets, the Western Michigan Broncos, the Portland State Vikings, and the Virginia Cavaliers while their loss was against the Purdue Boilermakers in their last game. Patrick McCaffery led the team in points in that game with 15 while Tony Perkins was next on the team off the bench with 14 points. Forward Keegan Murray also scored 12 points in that one as well. Joe Toussaint led the team in assists in that game with 4 while McCaffery and Josh Ogundele both led the team in rebounds with 5 each. They were 40.3% from the field, 23.8% from 3-point range, and 68.2% from the free throw line with their shots in that game. Iowa’s offense is averaging 91 PPG and their defense is allowing their opponents to average 68 PPG against them. Iowa has an ATS record of 6-2 this season and their O/U record is 6-2.

 

Iowa is coming into this game as a 3 point favorite with the current betting odds according to Draftkings Sportsbook. Iowa started their season great on a 7 game win streak but that was snapped in their last game with a loss against Purdue. Purdue is one of the best teams in the nation right now but they will be looking to make up for that loss in this game and that was a conference loss as well so they will be looking to get that conference win back here. Illinois has also been playing well in their recent games and both teams play defense well but Iowa has a stronger offense than Illinois does and they will be able to outscore Illinois in this game with their offense. The best bet to place in this game is on Iowa to cover the spread here at home. 

 

Illinois Iowa Prediction:  Our NCAAB Pick for Monday, December 6, 2021 (7:00 pm ET start time) is Iowa 86 Illinois 76.

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Illinois Fighting Illini: 15-25 O/U after 2 straight games with 19 or more assists. 4-11 O/U when the line is +3 to -3. 1-6 O/U when the total is 150 to 159.5. 91-133 O/U in road games. 4-13 O/U after 4 straight games where they made 47% of their shots or better. 89-131 O/U off a win against a conference rival. 49-80 O/U after 4 or more consecutive wins. 98-145 O/U after 3 straight games committing 14 or less turnovers.

Iowa Hawkeyes: 42-26 ATS in all games. 9-5 ATS when the line is +3 to -3. 31-16 ATS as a favorite. 25-11 ATS as a home favorite or pick. 26-11 ATS in all home games. 12-3 ATS in December games. 9-1 ATS off a road loss against a conference rival. 10-1 ATS off a road loss. 11-2 ATS after playing a game as a road underdog. 17-4 ATS after playing a road game.

 

 

Illinois Fighting Illini:  A. Curbelo (G) Ques Sun - Neck injury.

Iowa Hawkeyes:  K. Murray (F) Prob Mon - Ankle injury.

 

 

“Growing up, I always played football and I was always the quarterback. Having those leadership qualities already before coming in, that’s something that I tried to bring to Illinois. People always tell me that I’m a pretty good leader, so I try to bring that to wherever I am, try to lead the guys as much as possible and do my role in that sense. I think that’s something I’ll continue to try to do and just be that teammate for the guys to my left and right.” - Luke Goode on being a leader on his team.

 

 

"As far as I know. I'm not 100 percent sure, to be honest with you." - Fran McCaffery on his team being fully healthy for this game.

 

 

 

A. Curbelo 

T. Frazier 

J. Grandison 

C. Hawkins 

O. Payne

 

Jordan Bohannon 

C. McCaffery 

Kris Murray 

F. Rebraca 

J. Toussaint

 

 

PPG: K. Cockburn (24)

APG: A. Curbelo (5.5)

Reb/G: K. Cockburn (10.6)

 

PPG: K. Murray (24.6)

APG: J. Toussaint (4.3)

Reb/G: K. Murray (8.9)

 

Coaches:

Illinois Fighting Illini: Brad Underwood (5th season)

Iowa Hawkeyes: Fran McCaffery (12th season)