Missouri vs Illinois Predictions & Odds (Dec. 22)

• The Illinois Fighting Illini take on the Missouri Tigers on Thursday, December 22nd
• Although they’re 8-3 on the season, the Fighting Illini have lost two of their last four
• Check out the Illinois vs Missouri odds below, plus our best bet and prediction

There’s a full slate of college ball on tap Thursday before most teams break for the holidays. Included in the schedule is Illinois (8-3, 6-5 ATS) taking on Missouri (10-1, 6-5 ATS) at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis in the Braggin’ Rights Classic.

Tipoff for this matchup is set for 9:00 pm ET on Thursday, December 22nd with 16th seeded, Illinois opening as 5.5-point favorites in the college basketball odds. This border rivalry game is a December ritual for these two squads.

We lay out the Illinois vs Missouri odds below, while also offering up analysis, our best bet advice and prediction for this contest.

Illinois vs Missouri Odds

Odds as of December 21st at DraftKings. Claim the DraftKings Sportsbook promo code.

While the bar has been set higher for Illinois this season, they have struggled as of late. On the other side, although they haven’t faced the same level of competition as their rivals to the east, Missouri has an impressive 10-1 record as they get set to tango with the Fighting Illini.

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Inconsistent Play from Illinois Makes Them Tough to Bet

With his squad playing very inconsistently lately, head coach Brad Underwood has employed a tough love approach to his team. Just two weeks ago, Illinois defeated Texas, the 2nd betting favorites in the odds to win the NCAA tournament, in overtime.

However, that victory was sandwiched by a five point loss to Maryland and more recently, a 15 point defeat to Penn State. On Saturday, they defeated a much inferior Alabama A&M side 68-47, but only held a slim one point lead until running away with it in the final 10 minutes.

Ever since Ayo Dosunmu got drafted by the Chicago Bulls a couple years ago, the Fighting Illini have been looking for a new go-to guard to lead the charge. Terrence Shannon Jr. should be that guy, but he’s slipped in the Wooden Award odds, and hasn’t been as clutch as his coach and team would have hoped up to this point.

Both Matthew Mayer and Terrence Shannon Jr. shared frustrations following the Illini's win over Alabama A&M. But the team hasn't lost confidence about the season:

"It’s stuff we can fix obviously… We know we can be one of the best teams in the country.” https://t.co/m9YGnSLQyR

— WCIA 3 Sports (@WCIA3sports) December 19, 2022

Still, the senior guard leads his team in scoring with 17.8 points per game, while shooting 45.5% from the field and 34.8% from beyond the arc.

If there’s one thing this Illinois team has been steady with this year, it’s their lockdown defense. According to KenPom, they have an adjusted defensive efficiency of 90.0, which ranks 20th in the nation. Opponents are only shooting 41.9% against them on two-point field goals, which puts them ninth best in that category.

Missouri Tigers Underdogs in College Basketball Odds

Neither of these squads need any extra motivation for this game, but as underdogs in the college basketball odds, Missouri has some added motivation. They’ve only suffered one loss so far this year and that was a 95-67 beatdown at the hands of number 4 Kansas.

While Illinois is a younger squad for the most part, the Tigers are one of the most experienced teams in the nation. Leading scorer, D’Moi Hodge just turned 24-years old, fellow guard Sean East is 23 and forward and second leading scorer Kobe Brown turns 23 on New Years Day.

That experience has proved big for them in close matchups this year. In their last game over the weekend, they defeated UCF on one of the most ridiculous buzzer beaters we’ve seen in college hoops this year.

Missouri beats UCF with the mother of all buzzer beaters…. a banked trey from the logo 😱#CollegeBasketball #MizzouMade pic.twitter.com/aXihUkhldi

— For Future Considerations (@PodcastFFC) December 17, 2022

Their two previous victories were a seven point win over Southeast Missouri State and an overtime victory over Wichita State.

Expect the Tigers to push the pace in this one. They’re adjusted tempo is 73.9 according to KenPom, which ranks 19th in all of Division I basketball.

Illinois vs Missouri Pick & Prediction

Entering Thursday, Illinois leads the all-time series 33-19 against the Tigers. Missouri had enjoyed a three game winning streak against the Fighting Illini in the Braggin’ Rights game until Illinois smoked them exactly one year ago to the day, last year.

Illinois vs Missouri Recent Results

In their past 10 meetings, the score has been decided by single digits eight times. Right now, Illinois are purely the favorites based on reputation. They’re overall KenPom ranking is 19, while Missouri is at 60, much lower down the board.

Despite that, we expect this one to be a very closely contested matchup and Illinois’ recent run of erratic play gives us even more reason to pick the underdogs. Our prediction in the Illinois vs Missouri odds is the Tigers will keep it close, so take them to cover and don’t be surprised if they pull off the upset.

Pick: Missouri Tigers +5.5 (-110)