The No. 24 Illinois Fighting Illini (9-4, 0-2 Big Ten) meet the Northwestern Wildcats (10-3, 1-1) Wednesday at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Ill. Tip-off is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET (Big Ten Network). Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook’s lines around the Illinois vs. Northwestern odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.
The Fighting Illini bounced back from a 93-71 shellacking against Missouri in St. Louis on Dec. 22 by posting an 85-52 win against Bethune-Cookman in a tune-up game Thursday. The Under has cashed in 3 of the past 4 games for Illinois.
The Wildcats were hammered by Ohio State on New Year’s Day by a 73-57 score, not even coming close to covering a 2.5-point number as ‘dogs. The loss snapped a 5-game win streak by Northwestern. The Under is 4-1 in the past 5 games overall.