NCAA Basketball Prediction: Illinois Fighting Illini vs Missouri Tigers
Thursday, December 22, 2011
by Frank Martin
No. 24 Illinois Fighting Illini and No. 8 Missouri Tigers clash in St. Louis in a classic non-conference rivalry. Illinois nearly got caught looking ahead to Missouri, escaping with a 64-60 win over Cornell on Monday.
The unbeaten Tigers are the Fighting Illini's greatest test of the season. The Tigers haven't skipped a beat with first-year head coach Frank Haith at the helm.
They rank second in the country in scoring, averaging almost 88 points per game. The Fighting Illini lead the all-time "Braggin' Rights" series 27-14, but the Tigers have won the last two meetings.
- Illinois Fighting Illini @ Missouri Tigers
When: 9:00 PM ET, Thursday, December 22, 2011
Where: Scottrade Center, Saint Louis, Missouri
TV: 9 p.m. ET; ESPN2
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SBG Global Sportsbook currently have the Tigers listed as 7-point favorites versus the Fighting Illini.
Illinois Fighting Illini (11-1): The Fighting Illini's grind-it-out pace will be a contrast to the fast-and-furious style of the Tigers. The Fighting Illini do the most damage when feeding the ball inside to 7-footer Meyers Leonard. He scored 19 points and grabbed 18 rebounds versus Cornell, but has struggled with foul trouble at times this season. Bradley transfer Sam Maniscalco looked like a budding floor general for Illinois earlier in the season, but is mired in a slump heading into Thursday. After earning a spot in the starting lineup in November, Maniscalco has averaged just under eight points in December.
Missouri Tigers (11-0): The Tigers can improve to 12-0 for the first time since the 1981-82 season with a win over Illinois. Missouri comes into this rivalry red-hot on offense, shooting 60 percent over its last two games. It has four players scoring in double figures and six players averaging over eight points per game, led by senior guard Marcus Denmon. He's putting up 19.6 points per game and dropped 15 points on the Illini last season.
1. Marcus Denmon and Kim English have combined for 66 of the Tigers 94 3-pointers this season.
2. Leonard will tower over a smaller Missouri lineup. The Tigers run a four-guard set and boast no regular rotation player taller than 6-foot-9. Missouri is also without star forward Laurence Bowers, who was lost for the year after suffering a knee injury before the season started.
3. Missouri has defeated its first 11 opponents by an average of 27.7 points – a new school record over the first 11 games of the season.
BASKETBALL PREDICTION: Tigers 74, Fighting Illini 68.
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