The Illinois Fighting Illini and Iowa State Cyclones meet Thursday in the college basketball Sweet 16 at the TD Garden. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Illinois vs Iowa State prediction.

Illinois Fighting Illini Betting Preview

The Illinois Fighting Illini recently beat Nebraska, Wisconsin, Morehead State and Duquesne. The Illinois Fighting Illini are averaging 83.9 points on 47.1 percent shooting and allowing 72.9 points on 42.9 percent shooting. Terrence Shannon Jr. is averaging 23.3 points and 4 rebounds, while Marcus Domask is averaging 16.1 points and 5 rebounds. Coleman Hawkins is the third double-digit scorer and Quincy Guerrier is grabbing 6.2 rebounds. The Illinois Fighting Illini are shooting 35 percent from beyond the arc and 74.1 percent from the free throw line. The Illinois Fighting Illini are allowing 34.7 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 38.1 rebounds per game.

Iowa State Cyclones Betting Preview

The Iowa State Cyclones recently beat Baylor, Houston, South Dakota State and Washington State. The Iowa State Cyclones are averaging 75.7 points on 46.3 percent shooting and allowing 62.1 points on 40.5 percent shooting. Keshon Gilbert is averaging 13.7 points and 4.3 assists, while Tamin Lipsey is averaging 12.5 points and 4.6 rebounds. Milan Momcilovic is the third double-digit scorer and Curtis Jones is grabbing 2.9 rebounds. The Iowa State Cyclones are shooting 34.8 percent from beyond the arc and 69 percent from the free throw line. The Iowa State Cyclones are allowing 32.2 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 31.2 rebounds per game.

Illinois vs Iowa State prediction

Iowa State is the more balanced, consistent team and should get the edge from oddsmakers in this spot. Illinois has had extreme highs but has also come out flat at times and has bizarre losses in decent sized favorite roles. Iowa State is the more trustworthy team. With that said, Illinois is playing great ball right now and that offense is clicking, scoring 85 or more points in four straight games. Shannon and Domask are guys who can take over games, and they’re off to brilliant starts through two tournament games. I had Illinois going to the Elite Eight when the bracket was announced, and I’ve seen nothing from the Fighting Illini that suggests they can’t produce a minor upset here. Give me the free bucket with Illinois.