When you think of the island of Maui, you think of beaches and waves, but on Monday night, it’s also going to be home of the Maui Invitational as the Gonzaga Bulldogs tipoff against the Illinois Fighting Illini.
Gonzaga has lived up to the preseason hype on the young season and enters this game ranked amongst the best teams in college hoops while the Illini carry over a strong offense from last year. The defense was what held them back last year and it remains a huge question after Illinois allowed 88 points to Georgetown in their last contest.
Can the Fighting Illini bounce back from a tough home loss to Georgetown? They’ve got a very difficult matchup against Gonzaga in this one. Will the underdog keep the game close and be able to matchup with the fast-paced Bulldog attack? You can get involved in this one with the live betting opportunities available at BookMaker.eu.
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Gonzaga Bulldogs vs. Illinois Fighting Illini
Date and Time: Monday, November 19, 2018, 11:30 p.m. ET
Location: Lahaina Civic Center, Maui, Hawaii
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Bulldogs vs. Illini TV Coverage: ESPN2
There’s nothing to not like about the Bulldogs. Gonzaga is one of the top teams in the nation. They’ve dominated early in the year and will get a chance to test themselves on the road, albeit on a neutral court.
The Zags get a relatively easy draw in their first game of the Maui Invitational, too. They’ve got experience, talent and size advantages over Illinois. They’ve made four straight Sweet-16 appearances and are, arguably, a better team this year than last.
Rui Hachimura is a legitimate NBA draft prospect and budding star. He’s already scored 50 points through two games and went 13-for-18 with 33 points in the team’s season debut. He and transfer Brandon Clarke give the Bulldogs a dynamic frontcourt.
Meanwhile, the backcourt features Josh Perkins who is underrated as a floor general along with Zach Norvell Jr. who made a name for himself in the NCAA Tournament last year. He grew as a player throughout the year and now comes in as a redshirt sophomore, ready to take it to the next level.
To face this experienced Gonzaga team that’s become essentially a shoe-in to top the West Coast Conference and make a deep March run in the Mark Few era, Illinois has a much younger, much less experienced roster.
It’s year two of the rebuild under Brad Underwood who helped the team find some solid offense last season, scoring 75.8 PPG, but the defense was a mess.
The team lost a lot in the offseason, but have filled it in with some good talent. The problem is just youth. Adonis De La Rosa transferred in from Kent State and gives the team height inside. Ayo Dosunmu and Tevian Jones were both top-tier recruits.
Trent Frazier is the star of this team and the key as the general on the court though health makes him uncertain for this game.
Illinois has played two games this season; one went well and the other did not. The team beat Evansville in their opener and dropped a game to Georgetown.
Against Evansville, they scored 99, shooting 56.3-percent from the floor and 42.9-percent from beyond the arc. Frazier controlled the ball, Aaron Jordan scored 19, Dosunmu added 18 and Giorgi Bezhanishvili provided 10 rebounds.
In the loss, Illinois’ shooting dropped to 46.3-percent from the floor and less than a third of the three-pointers dropped. The team was vastly out rebounded.
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Look for a higher scoring affair on Monday night as the Zags haven’t been all that lights out defensively yet, allowing 79 points to Idaho State in their first regular season game. They’ve ironed that out a bit lately and were an elite defensive team last year, but there is still a chance for both teams to light up the scoreboard.
Illinois had no problems scoring last year, it was the defense that caused problems, allowing 74 PPG. They gave up 88 to Georgetown in their last game, too. With Gonzaga scoring in the triple digits here early in the year. We should see some points.
The Fighting Illini are heavy underdogs in this one, but look for them to try and pressure Gonzaga on defense to help force turnovers. They cannot keep the opposition off the board, but if they can create more opportunities for themselves, they may be able to find a way to at least keep pace for a while and give them a chance to potentially cover the spread at BookMaker.eu.
Key Player
We can point to Rui Hachimura as a break out superstar and Zach Norvell has shown his worth in tournament action with a nice run in the NCAA Tourney. Josh Perkins controls the ball for the Zags and is a reliable, dependable leader. Given his double-double earlier in the year, we can even point to Brandon Clarke as key. Given all those names for the Zags, it’s no wonder the key player is from the other side of the hardwood.
Look for Trent Frazier to be the key player here and more so on whether he does or doesn’t play.
As a freshman last year, Frazier averaged 12.5 PPG, the most of any returning player and he looked good in the first game against Evansville. He scored 10 points in the game with seven assists, two steals and avoided any turnovers.
Frazier’s the team’s floor general, at least when he plays. When Frazier sat against Georgetown, the team’s production—both offensively and defensively—took a major hit. With Frazier on the court, the Ilini stack up reasonably well in the backcourt against Gonzaga and could potentially be a bit more of a challenge for the Zags than some expect, at least keeping it close. Without Frazier, the Illini are vastly undermanned on the perimeter as well as inside the paint.
Bulldogs vs. Illini Live Betting
Georgetown took advantage of Illinois’ youth and exploited the fact Trent Frazier was out with a concussion. Frazier will have time to get back on the court for this game and his return would be welcome but either way, look for the Bulldogs to get the win over the Fighting Illini.
Gonzaga is a top-3 team in the nation for a reason. They can seemingly score at will. This is a team that returns most of a Sweet-16 lineup from last year and has the advantage of an extra year of experience to boot.
In the end, this Illinois team is just too young and too inexperienced to matchup with Gonzaga. While there will undoubtedly be flashes where the Illini’s talent will shine through, the consistency isn’t there for Illinois to hang with the elite like Gonzaga.
Check out all of the live betting at BookMaker.eu for Monday’s college basketball.
NCAA Basketball Score Prediction: Gonzaga 96, Illinois 79
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