NCAA College Basketball Free Pick – Illinois at Vanderbilt
Illinois Fighting Illini’ (2-0 SU, 0-1 ATS, 0-1 O/U) have gotten off to a solid start and enter tonight’s contest having won two straight games in the BetUS Sportsbook. Vanderbilt Commodores (1-0 SU, 1-0 ATS, 0-1 O/U) also looked very strong in winning their 2008-09 regular season opener this week.
Tonight, both teams will look to extend their winning ways when they meet at Memorial Gymnasium.
The Commodores defeated Morehead State 74-48 to cover the spread for BetUS NCAA college basketball sports betting buffs as a 17.5-point home favorite on Sunday
Freshman Jeffrey Taylor scored a game-high 16 points for Vanderbilt to lead five players in double figures, three of which were freshmen.
“I liked our team’s effort,” VU head coach, Kevin Stallings said. “I thought we played really hard. To turn them over 21 times and hold them to 34 percent shooting, I’m pleased with that.
Illinois used a dominating defensive effort to defeat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 72-53 on Sunday at the Assembly Hall.
The Fighting Illini were led by sophomore forward Mike Davis who posted a double-double that included career highs of 20 points and 14 rebounds.
Illinois used an overwhelming a 23-2 run over the final 14:50 of the first half to take a huge lead they would never relinquish.
Illinois also got 14 points from Trent Meacham and 13 from Demetri McCamey.
Here is a look at the key trends for each team followed by my in-depth analysis and NCAA college basketball Free Picks.
Fighting Illini are 9-25 ATS in their last 34 games following a S.U. win.
The Fighting Illini are 5-17-1 ATS in their last 23 non-conference games.
The Commodores are 8-0 ATS in their last 8 games after allowing less than 50 points in their previous game.
The Commodores are 19-7 ATS in their last 26 games following a SU win of more than 20 points.
The Under is 4-0 in Fighting Illini last 4 non-conference games.
The Over is 5-2 in Commodores last 7 games after allowing less than 50 points in their previous game.
NCAAB Odds
Illinois +5½ -110
Vanderbilt -5½ -110
Analysis: While the Commodores aren’t much better than the Fighting Illini’ this season following the loss of superstar Shan Foster, I like them to win this game and cover the spread narrowly over an improved Illinois team that still needs more athletic scorers.
