Sport: College HoopsPick Selection: Indiana Hoosiers -2 -110
Indiana Hoosiers at Illinois Fighting Illini 9:00 PM ET
Indiana Hoosiers -2 -110
***Big Ten Game of the Month*** The Illini started the season 8-4 with losses to Duke and Maryland and two overtime losses as well but it has all turned around. A home loss to Tennessee St. at the end of December knocked this team down. The key number in this game is five. That is the number of losses that the Illini have accumulated at home this season which is not typical of a normal Illinois team. This used to be a place Illinois rarely lost as it was 56-5 in its previous 61 home games since Bruce Weber took over as head coach.
Indiana got back to its winning ways after two straight losses and even though it was against lowly Northwestern, it was a much needed victory. The Hoosiers are back on the road for the first time since going down at Wisconsin and as mentioned, this venue is not even comparable to that any more. This is the first of two straight road games for Indiana with Ohio St. after this and it is a big stretch. The Hoosiers have Wisconsin, Michigan St. and Purdue, all of whom are ranked, in the three games that follow
The big story here is freshman Eric Gordon making his first ever appearance in Champaign since he reneged on an oral commitment with Illinois. This could be considered motivation for the Illini and could fire up the crowd but even thinking this will play a part in the outcome is absurd. Gordon is a special player and he is not going to let a road crowd distract him. The got the nerves out in the first meeting against Illinois anyway so if anything, he will be more relaxed this time out.
Indiana has advantages across the board including offensive shooting and three-point shooting along with huge edges in rebounding and free throw shooting. The last one will play a big part in a game with such a low line. Indiana is shooting 75.1 percent from the charity stripe which is 22nd in the nation and this includes a 77 percent success rate in road games. Illinois meanwhile is hitting only 60 percent which is 331st in the country and that disparity leads to an average of six more makes per game for Indiana.
Illinois is simply getting too much respect on its home floor and that should not be the case considering it is 9-20-1 ATS in its last 30 home games. The Illini were beaten by eight points in their last game against Purdue and they are 0-6 ATS in home games after a game where they failed to cover the spread this season. Playing yet another top team is trouble as Illinois is 2-10 ATS when playing against a team that has won 80 or more of its games over the last two seasons. Play Indiana Hoosiers 3 Units
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