NCAA CBS Basketball Game Free Pick – Saturday, February 5, 2011
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#24 Illinois (15-7, 5-4 Big Ten) at Northwestern (13-8, 3-7 Big Ten)
Date/Time: Saturday, February 5, 2011, 1:00PM EST on CBS
Venue: Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Illinois.
Money Line: OFF
Spread: Northwestern -1
Over/Under: OFF
The unranked Northwestern Wildcats will hope to put an end to their three-game losing streak when they host the Illinois Fighting Illini who has a few troubles of their own finding wins in their last six outings.
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However, Bruce Weber’s Illinois Fighting Illini did find their footing as of late, coming into Saturday’s matinee fresh off a 68-51 rout over Penn State after losing two in a row. Mike Davis scored 22 points, including 10 dunks, to lead struggling Illinois.
The Illini are 2-3 on the road and 5-4 in Big Ten play. Offensively the team is averaging 73.4 points while shooting 47 percent from the floor and grabbing 35.5 offensive rebounds. Leading scorer Demetri McCamey is averaging 14.7 points and 6.8 assists per game, while Davis is chipping in 11.4 points and 6.7 rebounds.
Defensively, Illinois is allowing their opponents to score just 64.5 points per game and shoot 39.5 percent while the Illini are 115th in defensive rebounding.
Meanwhile, the ‘Cats are going to need to dig deep for a win in this one, a win that they are certainly in need of if they are going to finally make the NCAA Tournament this season.
The Wildcats are 9-3 at home, but a dismal 0-6 against teams ranked in the top 25, and 3-7 in Big Ten play.
As the losses stack up, Northwestern may be starting to crumble, losing to No. 1 Ohio State, 58-57, their last time out. Michael Thompson led the Wildcats scoring with 16 points, 12 of those points coming from three-point range. Thompson also had a game-leading eight dishes.
Offensively the Cats average 75.2 points and shoot 46.6 percent from the floor, but they are 319th in offensive rebounding grabbing just 31 per game. John Shurna is averaging a team-best 19 points and 4.7 rebounds, while Thompson is averaging 14 points and 4.6 assists, and Drew Crawford is averaging 12.9 points and 4.3 rebounds.
Defensively Northwestern is allowing 68 points per game while the opposition shoots 46.6 percent from the floor ranking them 320th and they are 107th in defensive rebounding.
Illinois has already played Northwestern this season, back on January 6 and won 88-63. Last year, the Fighting Illini put up a record of 1-1 against the Wildcats. Over the last four seasons, Illinois is 6-1 against Northwestern, including 2-1 at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
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Matt’s Free Pick: Northwestern is one of the better home teams in the division, and even thought they succumbed to Illini once already this campaign, they fared much better against Ohio State than the Illini did, who lost to the Buckeyes 73-68. Because of that, I do think the ‘Cats are the solid pick here.
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Illinois Fighting Illini Betting Trends:
- Illinois is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games on the road
- Illinois is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games on the road
- The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Illinois’s last 6 games on the road
- Illinois is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Northwestern
Northwestern Wildcats Betting Trends:
- Northwestern is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games
- Northwestern is 17-4 SU in its last 21 games at home
- Northwestern is 1-12 SU in its last 13 games when playing Illinois
- The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Northwestern’s last 10 games when playing Illinois
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