Illinois Chicago at Cleveland State

Illinois Chicago has struggled mightily dropping three straight and 4 of 5. Cleveland St. has been worse as they have now dropped 5 in a row after opening 5-3. This is not a vintage Ill-Chicago team, certainly not like ones we have seen make noise in the NCAA tourney. They have not only struggled but have been horrible on the road at 1-5. Cleveland St. has had just 31 wins in the last four seasons, and 10 last year. Gary Waters has come over from Rutgers and this team is playing much better. Taking a look at these five losses, three were at the hands of Ohio State, Butler, and Kansas State and the other two were both lost in OT. The fact is this team played at home vs. George Mason, who shot over 60% in the game and Cleveland St. still almost won, losing by just 5. They also defeated Kent St. in this building, a game in which they shot just 36%, and still won by 7! It tells us that this team is good at home, and better than Illinois-Chicago on the court, but not by reputation, so we will back the home team.