There’s no doubt as to who the two best teams in the Missouri Valley Conference are. The Illinois State Redbirds and the Wichita State Shockers have dominated the conference this season and barring a mammoth collapse from both sides, one of these two teams will win the regular season title. Illinois State is undefeated in conference after knocking off Wichita State in Normal in what was the lone Shockers MVC loss this year.
Don’t miss the hardwood action from the Charles Koch Arena at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday, February 4, 2017. Catch every moment of the game live on ESPN2. We will have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the college basketball Saturday schedule.
College Basketball Odds at BookMaker.eu
Books are starting to catch onto the Redbirds after Illinois State started the season 12-6 ATS. Following the win against Wichita State, the lines on this team jumped dramatically and that led to the road team here failing to cover three of their last four. However, this team has been very solid in conference, with only one game being decided by 5 or less points.
The Shockers have likely lost any chance they had at getting a Top 4 seed in the tournament because of the loss to the Redbirds and a mediocre strength of schedule. The under has been a solid bet in their last four games as only one team was able to crack 60 points against Wichita State’s stifling defense.
Last Meeting
These teams last met just a few short weeks ago in a game that Illinois State cruised to a victory in. The key to the win was the performance of a defense that suffocated the Shockers from start to finish. Wichita State attempted 15 more shots than Illinois State did on the day, but only hit 34.9 percent of its field goal attempts in the defeat. That shooting performance was a full 12 points off its average of 46.9 percent from the floor on the year.
Defense has been the common theme for the Redbirds throughout this historic run. In conference play, no opponent has scored more than 71 points against them thus far and only three teams have been able to crack the 60-point mark in 10 games. They are fourth in the nation in field goal defense allowing opponents to hit a mere 37.1 percent from the floor and with numbers like that it’s hard to lose games.
Key Stat
Illinois State did get a little bit of luck going its was in the victory though. The Shockers were able to outhustle the Redbirds on missed shots throughout the game and ended up grabbing an impressive 17 offensive rebounds on the night. Since Wichita State is constantly subbing players in and out of the lineup, this team is able to keep fresh legs and that helps it out on the glass.
It’s hard to imagine things turning out as well as they did for the Redbirds last time if that rebounding disparity carries over to this game. Wichita State won’t have an awful night finishing like it did when these teams met in Normal and that means Illinois State needs to bring the Windex and clean up the glass.
Free College Basketball ATS Picks
Sportsbooks are going to make Wichita State the favorite to win this game and rightfully so. The game is in Wichita in front of what will be a raucous crowd and the Shockers are looking for revenge. Moreover, a loss essentially dooms them to a second-place finish at best in the MVC and the only real way they can catch the Redbirds is with a victory on Saturday. A team looking to make a statement to the committee like Wichita knows it needs to take revenge and will do so here.
College Basketball Odds: Wichita State 75, Illinois State 64
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