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Illinois Fighting Illini vs. Michigan St. Spartans Free Gambling Prediction & CBB Preview

Fighting Illini vs Spartans CBB Basketball Spread/Handicapping

Illinois is one of a handful of teams that would have liked postseason bids to be handed out in mid December. Since then they have lost 6 times, some good and some not so good, as they struggle to find their level in a very competitive Big Ten Conference.

Illinois Fighting Illini (15-6) vs #13 Michigan State Spartans(17-4)
Thursday January 31
Breslin Center – East Lansing, MI
7:00PM
Moneyline:  No ML currently listed at Sportsbook.ag
Spread:  Michigan State -9
O/U:  132

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Illinois

The truth is they were probably never as as good as their ranking suggested after they upset Gonzaga.  Still some of their losses have been head scratchers.

In guard Brandon Paul the Illini have a player who can win or lose a game for you.  He has scored 20 or more points 8 times this season but he needs the ball in his hands so much that it can be disruptive to the flow of their offense and when he is not sinking baskets his overall game suffers too.  

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Guard D.J Richardson is also a nice talent but he always seem to leave you wanting more and has difficult assuming a lead role.

Illinois has killed bettors in conference play going just 2-5 ATS, including two games they lost outright as favourites.  That won’t be the case at MSU which is probably a good thing.  They probably won’t win but might be able to develop a little toughness from this game against a serious Spartan team.

Michigan State

The Spartans may not be collecting style points but they are collecting wins in the Big Ten.  After losing their conference opener to Minnesota they rattled off 6 straight before losing at Indiana, a contest they easily could have one.  This has to be one of the toughest teams in the country as the talent level is not brimming.[ad-6571516]  They probably haven’t hit their ceiling yet either as Tom Izzo teams usually continue to develop as the season goes on.

I still don’t whether point guard Keith Appling is good or a serious disappointment.  I like him as a winner but as a leading scorer he is not fantastic as he often goes stretches where he is kind of invisible offensively.  In those absences Branden Dawson is looking better and better.  He has a great build, chipping in both scoring and rebounding for the Spartans.  They might look inside more than usual against Illinois who doesn’t have a lot to compete with Adrien Payne and Derrick Nix.

Michigan State is 12-0 at home this season but just 3-5-1 against the number.  They have played some ugly ones which because they are such a public team is a recipe for wagering failure.  -9 against Illinois seems like a pretty strong number as they are not likely to throttle a team that has their level of talent.  Just 2 of their conference wins have been by 9 point or more.

Spread Pick: Michigan State -9
O/U Pick: Over
Score Prediction: Michigan State 75 – Illinois 65

By The Wiesguy

The Wiesguy is a newcomer to the handicapping scene. Hailing from Toronto, Canada he is always sweet on the underdogs and you can often find his thoughts, musings and picks at moneydogs.blogspot.com.