Big Ten Rivals Collide in Champaign: Michigan St at Illinois

Michigan St Spartans at Illinois Fighting Illini, Assembly Hall, Champaign, IL
Tuesday, January 18, 2011, 7:00 pm Eastern, TV: ESPN
Opening Line: Illinois -4 1/2
Current Line: Illinois -4
Opening Total: 138
Current Total: 135
Money Line: Illinois -180 / Michigan St +160

Draymond Green and the Michigan St Spartans travel to Illinois in Big Ten action. Illinois is a 4 point favorite.

Two ranked Big Ten teams renew their rivalry in Champaign tonight. The Michigan St Spartans are 12-5 overall and 4-1 in Big Ten play as they travel to take on the 13-5, 3-2 Illinois Fighting Illini in a crucial Big Ten showdown. Michigan St is ranked #18 and Illinois is ranked #22 this week. The Spartans were ranked #2 in the pre-season poll but has been underwhelming so far. Granted the schedule has been very tough but the Spartans should be better than they are. They have losses to Connecticut, Duke, Syracuse, Texas, and Penn St. All besides Penn St will be top 4 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, so they can be excused somewhat. The Spartans have wins over South Carolina, Minnesota, Northwestern twice, and Wisconsin. Illinois has losses to Texas, Illinois-Chicago, Missouri, Penn St, and Wisconsin. Illinois has lost 2 in a row. Illinois has wins over Maryland, North Carolina, Gonzaga, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Northwestern on the season. The all time series is tied at 54 between Illinois and Michigan St, though Illinois is 35-17 at home in the series. Michigan St has won 5 out of 6 and 7 out of 9 games straight up in the series. Illinois won the last meeting in February of last season 78-73 in Champaign. Michigan St is 12-24 ATS versus teams with winning records the last 2 seasons.

Michigan St is coming off back to back overtime home wins over Wisconsin and Northwestern. Michigan St is led by guard Kalin Lucas who averages 14.7 points, 2.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.2 steals a game. Guard Durrell Summers is averaging 14.2 points, and 4.8 rebounds a game. The Spartans best all-around player might be Draymond Greenw ho is averaging 12.8 points, 8.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.9 steals, and 1.4 blocks a game. He leads the team in rebounding, steals, and blocks. The top 3 scorers all shoot over 40% from 3-point range. Korie Lucious leads the team in assists with 4.1 a game. Michigan St is outscoring opponents 73-66 on the season. They are shooting 44.8% from the field and 38.0% from 3-point range. Michigan St is holding opponents to 39.6% shooting from the field. The Spartans make 67.2% of their free throws. The Spartans average 39.4 rebounds, and have a rebounding margin of +4.4. They average 16.4 assists and 14.9 turnovers a game. They force 14.2 turnovers a game on defense. They force 7.6 steals and 5.2 blocks a game.

Illnois is led by guard Demetri McCamey. He is averaging 16.2 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 7.0 assists. He leads the team in scoring and assists. He is shooting 52.6% from 3-point range. Forward Mike Davis is averaging 10.7 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 1.7 assists a game. Guard D.J. Richardson is averaging 10.4 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 2.2 assists. Forward Mike Tisdale is averaging 10.2 points, 7.6 rebounds to lead the team, 1.1 assists, and 1.4 blocks to also lead the team. Guard Brandon Paul leads the team in steals with 1.1 a game. Illinois is outscoring opponents 75-66 on the season. The Illini are shooting 47.9% from the field and 42.5% from 3 point range. Illini opponents are shooting 40% from the field. Illinois averages 35.6 rebounds and has a rebounding margin of +2.2. They average 16.9 assists and 13.4 turnovers a game. They force 14.3 turnovers a game on defense. The Illini average 5.9 steals and 4.9 blocks a game.

Michigan St has the edge in rebounding. Both teams are really good defensively. This a crucial game for both teams as they don’t want to lose any more ground to first place Ohio St in the Big Ten. I see a close game between two evenly matched teams.