Illinois State vs. Long Beach State Picks and Prediction for Sunday, November 16, 2025
Use Code WWWC Illinois State Redbirds (1-2) vs. Long Beach State Beach (0-3)
Week 2 of the 2025-26 college basketball season wraps up Sunday, November 16, so we are taking a closer look at the non-conference clash from Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, CA, to get you the Illinois State vs. Long Beach State prediction.
The Redbirds meet the Beach for the first time since November 20, 2023, when Illinois State beat Long Beach State 61-52 as a 6.5-point underdog at the neutral site. Illinois State is a 7.5-point road fave this time around, while the total sits at 144.5 points.
Read more about this Bradley vs. San Francisco prediction, and make sure to check out all our NCAAB picks for Saturday’s card. The tip-off at Walter Pyramid is set at 7:00 PM ET.
Illinois State close down a two-game road trip
The Illinois State Redbirds (1-2; 1-2 ATS; 0-3 O/U) played a couple of games in the opening week, losing against Ohio 72-68 on the road and beating Cornell 76-65 at home. In Week 2, the Redbirds headed to California to meet USC and Long Beach State.
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Last Friday, Illinois State suffered an 87-67 defeat to USC at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, CA, and the Redbirds failed to cover a 15.5-point spread. The Redbirds struggled on both sides of the floor. They hit just seven of their 32 shots from deep and forced a paltry four turnovers.
Freshman Ty’Reek Coleman leads the way for Illinois State with 14.3 points per game, even though the Redbirds returned 56.7% of minutes played and 65.5% of scoring from their 2024-25 roster. Illinois State scores 112.0 points per 100 possessions (76th in the country) and allows 106.5 points in return (158th).
Long Beach State is desperate for a win
The Long Beach State Beach (0-3; 1-2 ATS; 1-2 O/U) have dropped 18 consecutive games dating back to the previous season. LBSU started its 2025-26 campaign with a three-game road trip, losing against San Diego State 77-45, Fresno State 82-62, and Pacific 69-66.
Last Wednesday, the Beach blew an 11-point second-half lead at Pacific. LBSU allowed just three 3-pointers, but the Beach missed nine of their 21 free-throw attempts and gave up 13 offensive rebounds. Freshman guard Gavin Sykes led the charge with 20 points and seven rebounds, and junior G Isaiah Lewis had 14 points and three assists.
LBSU changed nearly the entire roster in the offseason, and Sykes (10.3 PPG, 4.3 RPG) is the lone guy with points per game in double digits. The Beach tally just 97.8 points per 100 possessions (340th in the nation) and surrender 110.5 points in return (271st).
Illinois State vs. Long Beach State Pick
Spread Pick for Illinois State vs. Long Beach State
- Illinois State -7.5 (5 units)
It’s hard to trust this Long Beach State team. LBSU turns the ball over on 23.6% of its possessions (339th in the country) and makes just 24.6% of its shots from deep (331st). Illinois State doesn’t force a lot of turnovers, but the Redbirds allow just 4.3 triples per game (13th) on a 22.8 percentage clip (25th).
The Redbirds’ backcourt looks dangerous. Keep your eyes on junior guard Johnny Kinziger (13.7 PPG), who was one of the best Redbirds last season with 14.6 points per game. Junior forward Chase Walker tallies just 8.7 points per game after averaging 15.2 last season, so he could easily have a breakthrough game against the lowly Beach. I will lay 7.5 points with Illinois State.
Over/Under Pick for Illinois State vs. Long Beach State
- Under 144.5 (5 units)
The Redbirds make just 28.6% of their shots from beyond the arc (263rd). They will start improving sooner rather than later, but I don’t expect to see a ton of points in this game. Both Illinois State and Long Beach State prefer to play at a slow pace.
As I noted, the Redbirds don’t force a lot of turnovers. But they will force the Beach into a lot of tough shots, and LBSU ranks 324th in the country in effective field goal percentage (42.0%). The under is 6-3 in Illinois State’s last nine games overall, and it is 5-1 in LBSU’s previous six.
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