CLICK GRAB OUR BEST Expert CBB Picks for 2013 MARCH MADNESS GAMBLING season!<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\nWhere the Buffaloes need to improve is in their offensive efficiency. They shot just 43.6 percent on the season, and they were 328th in the country in assists per game (10.0). This team plays at a snail\u2019s speed, so making the shots that they get is always important.<\/p>\n
Illinois Fighting Illini<\/h3>\n
The Illinois Fighting Illini don\u2019t shoot a good percentage, but they know how to put the ball in the basket. They\u2019re shooting just 41.6 percent on the year, which is only good enough for 261st in the nation, but nearly a third of their points came on long-range buckets. [ad-6571516]<\/p>\n
This team isn\u2019t going to look inside much, but when it does, it has an improving option in Nnanna Egwu. Aside from the big man, the team will look to create opportunities on the perimeter for Brandon Paul and D.J. Richardson\u2014both have more than 70 three-pointers on the year.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no better way to describe this team\u2019s chances in the tournament than by using the old clich\u00e9: live by the three, die by the three. They lack size inside, which is why they struggling scoring and defending in the paint. They made enough long-distance shots to earn their seed, but they\u2019re a dangerous squad to trust when their shots aren\u2019t falling.<\/p>\n
Coming into this matchup, the Illini are the higher seed, but Colorado is used to playing against tough competition. It played seven ranked opponents on the season, winning four of those matchups. The problem is that their defense is most effective in the paint, which is an area Illinois will look to avoid.<\/p>\n
If the Illini\u2019s shot is off, it\u2019s going to be their own doing. The Buffaloes won\u2019t challenge the perimeter from start to finish, meaning Illinois should get the same looks that earned them a spot in the NCAA Tournament.<\/p>\n
Prediction: Illini 77 \u2013 Buffaloes 70<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Buffaloes vs Fighting Illini NCAA Tourney Spread\/Handicapping The No. 10 Colorado Buffaloes and the No. 7 Fighting Illini are set to face off Friday, March 22 in a second round matchup in the East Region. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:40 PM ET, and it can be viewed on TNT.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":32375,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1415],"tags":[58437,58542,58543,58544,58454,58540,58541,46678,11741,58453,6530,58455,10943],"class_list":["post-60891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ncaa-basketball","tag-2013-march-madness","tag-buffaloes-fighting-illini-free-prediction","tag-buffaloes-fighting-illini-picks","tag-buffaloes-vs-fighting-illini","tag-college-basketball-betting-picks","tag-colorado-buffaloes-vs-illinois-fighting-illini","tag-colorado-buffaloes-vs-illinois-fighting-illini-odds","tag-east-bracket-predictions","tag-east-region","tag-free-college-basketball-hoops-prediction","tag-free-college-basketball-picks","tag-ncaa-basketball-betting-prediction","tag-ncaa-tournament-handicapping"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/68"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60891"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60891\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61020,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60891\/revisions\/61020"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}