The UMKC Roos and the Illinois Fighting Illini meet Friday in college basketball action from State Farm Center. UMKC is 0-2 so far this year following losses to Lincoln MO and LSU. As for Illinois, they’re coming off a blowout opener win versus Eastern Illinois. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
UMKC had a decent season in 2021-22, going 19-12 overall with a 12-6 run in the Summit League. The Roos landed in third place with that effort, behind South Dakota State and North Dakota State. UMKC lost to South Dakota in the conference tourney.
Kansas City kicked off the season with a matchup versus Lincoln MO. The Roos fell in a tough one 59-56, then matched up with LSU for game two on Wednesday. That one didn’t go very well either; UMKC fell 74-63 to fall to 0-2 on the young season.
Over on the Illinois side, they managed a 23-10 overall record last year and a 15-5 run in a competitive Big Ten Conference. Illinois was regular-season co-champion (with Wisconsin) and ultimately made it to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament.
In their opener back on Monday versus Eastern Illinois, the Illini held a 46-31 advantage by the break. Illinois kept it up in the second half during an 87-57 win. Terrence Shannon put up 24 points, and Coleman Hawkins doubled on 23 points and 12 boards.
PICK: I’m probably going to stay with Illinois. The Illini took care of business against an overmatched Eastern Illinois team in their opener. Illinois shot a nice 46.9 percent from the field and 34.6 percent from 3-point range. The Illini were great on the boards with 53 rebounds, and also added 16 assists in the blowout win. Considering UMKC has only scored 119 points over two games this year, the Roos are going to have a tough time keeping up if Illinois is hitting shots.