Stanford battles Illinois State battle Monday in NIT betting action at Maples Pavilion as the Cardinal look to defend home court and cover the NCAA basketball point spread in the process.
Stanford opened as 8-point favorites in this one to advance to the NIT Final Four at MSG next week. [ See the latest NIT odds at Sportsbook ]
The Cardinal will face the 21-13 Redbirds, who own a 16-14 ATS mark on the season. In totals betting, the Cardinal are 16-14 favoring the UNDER so far this season while the Redbirds are 16-13-1 favoring the OVER.
View Illinois State vs Stanford Odds and Stats.
Power Rankings / Prediction:
This game matches up the No. 49 (Cardinal) and the No. 134 (Redbirds) teams in the league, according to our current NCAAB power rank. A 75-71 result in favor of the Cardinal has been projected by the scores prediction engine.
How They Match Up:
Scoring and defensive stats point to some edges in this matchup. The game features Stanford's No. 111-ranked scoring average of 70.7 PPG, against a Redbirds defense rated No. 118 and allowing 65.2 PPG. The Cardinal FG% has averaged 44.1% to date this season, more than the Redbirds shooters have managed so far (43.9% per game).
Comparing how these foes stack up statistically, Illinois State owns the country's No. 277-rated mark, allowing 74.3 points per game on the highway. Stanford, on the other hand, rates No. 140 in scoring at home.
Illinois State won its last outing, a 96-93 result against Mississippi on March 14. They covered in that game as a 6.5-point underdog. The Rebels were burned for 26 points by Tyler Brown on Wednesday as the Redbirds put another game in the win column, 96-93, at Tad Smith Coliseum.
Stanford won its last outing, a 76-65 result against Cleveland State on March 13. They covered in that game as a 6-point favorite. The Cardinal got 17 points from Aaron Bright as Stanford ran past Cleveland State 76-65 on Tuesday at Maples Pavilion.
