Missouri State Bears vs. Illinois State Redbirds
Odds: Illinois State -3, 126 1/2
Game time: 7:05 p.m. ET on FSMW
The last few days in practice, all the Bears have been working has been rebounds and aggressiveness.
Well, I guess the practice paid off because they earned their biggest rebounding margin of the season when they out-rebounded Evansville 47-20 Thursday night. Missouri State hammered Evansville 69-48 in what was the most lopsided victory in an opening round session of the MVC tournament.
The Bears took the money as 10 ½-point favorites, which gave the Bears their fourth straight win and cover. They led the game from start to finish, which enabled them to rest their key starters for the rest of the weekend.
“Literally it was like another practice the day before we played because I don't want anybody
telling these guys ooh, four games, four days, you can't do it, you know, the Giants can't beat the Patriots, all that stuff,” said Bears head coach Barry Hinson, who is reported to be finished at the end of the season for Missouri State. “One of the things we talked about was get off to a good start, game over, move on to the next day.”
If you didn’t believe Missouri State was a dangerous team coming into the tournament, you’d better believe it now.
Injuries and distractions surrounding the coaching situation led this team to a stumbles throughout the season and the Bears fell short of expectations with a 10-17 ATS (against the spread) heading into the tournament.
This an experienced team, however, and now that it’s healthy, Missouri State will be tough for any team they face.
The Bears went 0-2 SU (straight up) and ATS against Illinois State this season and both meetings played under the total. The Redbirds provide some key matchup problems that has Bears coach Hinson worried, namely Osiris Eldridge.
Eldridge co-leads the conference in scoring with 16.3 points per game and he can beat you from beyond the arc or drive the hoop and beat you inside. Forward Anthony Slack is another problem with his 54.1 field-goal percentage and seven rebounds per game.
So the Birds can beat you inside or outside and they rank in the top three in the Valley in both field-goal shooting and three-pointers. They are also the best defensive team with fewer than 60 points against per game and they’re accustomed to seeing low totals.
Their last four games have played under some low numbers and they’ve held opponents to less than 40 percent field goal shooting and 30 percent three-point shooting over the past five games.
With that in mind, and Missouri State’s renewed intensity on defense, the under is worth a strong look for tonight’s game.
Pick: under 126 1/2
Raji |