We get a Big Ten showdown for the ages in the Elite Eight of March Madness, tipping off shortly after 6 p.m. ET on Saturday. The No. 3 Illinois Fighting Illini have played some excellent ball throughout the NCAA Tournament thus far after entering the field as a dark horse to make a title run. They’ve delivered on those expectations and then some, but an unlikely challenger stands in their way as the No. 9 Iowa Hawkeyes look to keep dancing with another upset win.
Illinois enters as a 7.5-point favorite with -305 odds on the Moneyline via DraftKings Sportsbook. Iowa holds +245 odds to upset with the game total set at only 137.5 points.
Ahead of this evening’s March Madness action, here are two of the best college basketball prop bets for this Iowa vs. Illinois showdown.
Best Iowa vs. Illinois prop bets
David Mirkovic 9+ rebounds (+105)
One prop bet that stands out in this matchup is 9+ boards for Illinois big man David Mirkovic. The 6-foot-9, 255-pound Montenegrin leads the team with 8.0 rebounds per game, being called upon to work as the primary glass cleaner on a nightly basis. Over the course of the full season, he’s pulled down at least nine rebounds on 12 occasions in 35 total contests, which may not provide the most reliable hit rate. However, we can further contextualize this to feel better about our bet. Mirkovic reached eight rebounds in five more of his games to flirt with this line, but there’s more to dig into here. He averages 29.3 minutes a night and could see even more work given the stakes, especially against a frontcourt with some decent size. Iowa’s Alvaro Folgueiras is 6-foot-10 and there are a couple of forwards at 6-foot-7 and up as well.
In other words, there will be plenty of responsibility on Mirkovic’s plate come Saturday. He’s risen to the occasion so far in this tournament, bringing down 17 boards in the opening round and logging 10 in his most recent contest against Houston. The pressure is on, so I expect him to perform in the Elite Eight here.
Andrej Stojakovic 12+ points (-155)
The value here isn’t stellar, however, that won’t keep me from taking this second prop bet. Andrej Stojakovic has been a crucial cog in the machine at Illinois that has helped make this team so formidable. He averages 13.5 PPG, shooting a career-best 49.5% from the field even though his three-point shot is the worst of his three years at just 24.4%. Still, we’ve seen him be productive this season with the ability to take over games on occasion and otherwise provide additional scoring pop even when he’s not working as the go-to guy. He’s scored 12+ points a total of 18 times in 32 appearances, giving us some real reliability when it comes to this prop.
Beyond that, though, Stojakovic has delivered on this line in two of his three games in this tournament so far. He posted 21 points in the second round and tallied 13 in his last game. He also had 17 points in his team’s lone Big Ten Tournament contest, and he’s hit this line in seven of his last 12 games dating back to the beginning of February. With the stakes so high, Illinois will need every bit of production it can get. I expect him to deliver and help boost his NBA Draft stock in the process.
Make sure to follow all the picks from our college basketball team on The CBB Board. You can join and tail picks directly from the DraftKings app, all while enjoying pregame breakdowns from our top hoops analysts!
