BURN THE HORSE
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| UALR (3-8) vs. Illinois State (7-3) 6 p.m. tonight Vegas says: ISU by 10.5 |
BTH Keys to Victory
1.Jump on Jackie. UALR doesn’t have anybody that really can match up physically with Illinois State’s Jackie Carmichael. But you can’t let him go off for a huge double-double type night. Keep Jackie in check and your chances of beating Illinois State go up.
2. Take care. UALR has been victimized several times this season by turnovers. It’s not really the overall amount of turnovers, it’s the time at which they come. It’s allowing opponents to stick around and eventually overtake the Trojans.
3. Big start. I know, you’re thinking this should be big finish. Well, you can’t really have one without the other. Illinois State is 0-3 this season when tied or trailing at the half. Illinois State is 0-3 when tied or trailing with five minutes left. UALR has had some really good starts to game. It’s got to continue tonight if there’s any hope of getting a victory.
4. Someone else. It’s going on the keys until someone else forces me to go elsewhere. It can’t just be D’Andre Williams and Will Neighbour. The other starters are capable scorers. UALR needs above average nights from Ben Dillard, Taggart Lockhart and Courtney Jackson.
Vegas says
Illinois State is a whopping 10.5-point favorite (and as much as 12 elsewhere). As we say every game, UALR has yet to be a Vegas favorite this year. Their three victories came with no line on the board. However, UALR has covered in five of their past six games that have made the board (Michigan State, Milwaukee, Missouri State, Oral Roberts and Louisiana Tech). The time they didn’t cover in that stretch was the SMU game, as a 1-point dog. That game was lost by 6 in overtime.
Predictions
- CBS Sports line (9-2): Illinois State 74, UALR 60
- Jeff Sagarin (8-3): Illinois State 84, UALR 66
- The Sports Network (8-3): Illinois State 70, UALR 62
- Real Time RPI (7-4): Illinois State 78, UALR 52
- Combo: Illinois State 78, UALR 59
