Its a Missouri Valley Conference matchup on Wednesday as the Bradley Braves travel to Illinois State to take on the Redbirds. Bradley is 17-8 overall and 10-4 in the Missouri Valley while Illinois State is 10-15 overall and 5-9 in the conference. Bradley beat Illinois State 79-75 back on January 25th in overtime, but Illinois State easily covered playing at Bradley. Tipoff is at 8:00 p.m. EST at Redbird Arena in Normal, Illinois.
Bradley is on a roll
Bradley has been surging as of late, winning their last four games to improve to 17-8 overall and 10-4 in the Missouri Valley Conference. They are coming off a win last Saturday at Northern Iowa, where they prevailed by the score of 77-69 as a 3-point favorite. Bradley shot the lights out, shooting 55% from the floor and draining 16 of 26 from three-point range.
“That’s a beautiful win..” pic.twitter.com/H7jlu0oHAB
— Bradley Basketball (@BradleyUMBB) February 5, 2023
The main man for Bradley was Malevy Leons, who dropped 19 points with 4 three-pointers. Rienk Mast added 18 points while Connor Hickman drained 17 points with 5 three-pointers. Duke Deen added 11 points with 5 rebounds and 4 assists with 3 three-pointers. Mast leads the team with 13.9 points per game. Braley ranks number 84 in the country in the latest KenPom rankings.
Illinois State falls to Belmont
The Illinois State Redbirds had a two-game winning streak snapped last Saturday when they lost to Belmont 90-75. Belmont, at 10-4 in the conference, is one of the best teams in the MVC and the game was played on the road. Still, Illinois State failed to cover as a 10-point underdog. The loss dropped the Redbirds to 190-15 overall and 5-9 in the Missouri Valley.
Big jam for Big Iowa 🔨 pic.twitter.com/g0YXblTZfw
— Illinois State Men's Basketball (@Redbird_MBB) February 4, 2023
Illinois State shot very well, 50%, and made 11 threes -- but they got pounded on the glass. They were outrebounded 35 to 19 and Belmont had a 13 to 6 offensive rebounding edge, and that resulted in 8 more Belmont shots. Darius Burford led Illinois State with 15 points and 5 assists with 3 three-pointers. Malachi Poindexter and Jayden Johnson each had 13 points for the Redbirds. Burford leads the team with 11.8 points per game. Illinois State is ranked No. 257 by KenPom.
Best Bets for this Game
Full-Game Side Bet
Insiders Status:
Illinois State is not as bad as its record would indicate. But they are terrible on the road and that has resulted in nothing but losses for them. However, their best road performance of the season came against these Bradley Braves, who they nearly beat a couple of weeks ago and covered against easily. The reason is they match up pretty well with Bradley. Both teams are more perimeter-oriented teams that like to shoot the three -- and are pretty good at it. Illinois State has struggled more with the bigger teams, but that is not a huge advantage for Bradley. So Illinois State should be able to keep this close enough to cover, particularly at home. Take Illinois State to cover.
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Full-Game Total Pick
Insiders Status:
The last time these two teams met on January 25, they easily went over the total. Granted, it was an overtime game, but they still would have been over in regulation. The total here is a bit higher, reflecting that last result between these two, but I think it is still too low. While both of these teams play at a slow pace, ranking in the bottom third in tempo, they average well over 70 points per game. Illinois State, in fact, averages 74.2 points per game, the higher of the two. they scored 69 points in regulation against Bradley last time out on the road, so I see the Redbirds finishing closer to their average playing at home. Take the over here.