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With the Virginia Commonwealth Rams coming in as a +11 underdog facing off against the Illinois Fighting Illini on Saturday, VCU will pay out $460 for every $100 bet should they upset Illinois on the moneyline.
No. 13 Illinois takes on VCU in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Fighting Illini's record in Big Ten games is 15-6, and their record is 10-2 against non-conference opponents. Illinois is the Big Ten leader with 12.2 offensive rebounds per game led by David Mirkovic averaging 2.5.
The Rams are 18-3 against A-10 opponents. VCU scores 81.6 points while outscoring opponents by 9.9 points per game.
Illinois averages 11.0 made 3-pointers per game, 4.2 more made shots than the 6.8 per game VCU allows. VCU has shot at a 46.0% rate from the field this season, 4.9 percentage points higher than the 41.1% shooting opponents of Illinois have averaged.
Keaton Wagler is shooting 44.8% and averaging 17.9 points for the Fighting Illini.
Most books list Wagler with an over/under point scoring total of 17.5 for this game.
Mirkovic is averaging 17.3 points over the last 10 games.
Lazar Djokovic is averaging 13.6 points and 5.4 rebounds for the Rams.
Terrence Hill Jr. is averaging 16.1 points over the last 10 games. His point scoring total here is 16.5 over/under.
VCU broke a lot of brackets with their victory over North Carolina in the first round. They came into that one as the 11th seed versus the No. 6 seed Tar Heels. They did have to win in overtime.
Illinois had no trouble handling Pennsylvania in their first round game.
David Mirkovic had 29 points and 17 rebounds, and No. 3 seed Illinois dominated No. 14 seed Penn 105-70 on Thursday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Keaton Wagler added 18 points, seven assists and seven rebounds for the Fighting Illini (25-8), who moved on to face No. 11 VCU in the second round on Saturday.
Kylan Boswell had 13 points, while Ben Humrichous and Tomislav Ivisic each chipped in with 12 as Illinois shot 50% from the field, made 15 3-pointers and outrebounded the much smaller Quakers 48-25.
- Tyrone Black, Gambling911.com
