Illinois-Chicago Flames at Youngstown State Penguins Pick

The Illinois-Chicago Flames (14-12) will face the Youngstown State Penguins (11-16) for a Horizon League conference collision set to take place on Saturday, February 16th, 2019. Tip-off time is set for 6:00 PM ET and will be available for streaming on ESPN+. The Flames are presently riding a five-game winning streak against the Penguins that dates back to 2017. Over this span, UIC has also been a cash cow as they have gone 4-1 ATS.

Illinois-Chicago Flames at Youngstown State Penguins Overview

Illinois-Chicago Flames

The Flames enter into this contest on a four-game winning streak. UIC was in action two days ago on Valentine’s Day when they hosted the Cleveland State Vikings and defeated them 81-77 failing to cover as a 4.5-point favorite.

Youngstown State Penguins

The Penguins enter red-hot on a five-game winning streak. The Penguins hosted Indiana-Purdue two days ago and orchestrated an upset as a 1.5-point underdog when they won 75-73. Overall, YSU has gone 4-1 ATS in their previous five outings.

Reasons To Avoid Illinois-Chicago

Overall, the Flames play 3-9 SU basketball on the road this season, and that makes them a dubious proposition laying points to the Penguins who have won their last three in Youngstown. However, UIC has won their previous two games away from the Windy City, and they have been highly profitable in this series, so many takers will overlook their entire body of work outside of Chicago. However, the Flames have several disadvantages that put them in position to be bullied on the hardwood. Youngstown State commits fewer turnovers, owns the stronger bench, and are the stronger team on the boards. All three of these metrics are most significant in a game forecasted to be settled by a possession.

Reasons To Back Youngstown State

In college basketball, home court advantage is enormous. We have already highlighted how UIC has struggled on the road and how Y-State has several advantages that they can use to make the Flames’ visit very tumultuous. This in itself warrants action on the Penguins. However, in addition to these edges, Youngstown State will enter with heightened motivation here as they will see this as an opportunity to end Flames recent spate of dominance in this series and will be hungry to the get the UIC monkey off of their back.