The Indiana Hoosiers (5-3 overall, 0-1 Big Ten) lock horns and match wits with the Illinois Fighting Illini (6-3, 2-1) in a Saturday afternoon (4:00 p.m. ET) Big Ten battle at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Ill. Below, we analyze the Indiana-Illinois college basketball betting odds and lines, with picks and predictions.
Illinois is ranked No. 18 in the Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports.
Indiana at Illinois: Betting odds, spread and lines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 12:00 p.m. ET.
- Money line: Indiana +260 (bet $100 to win $260) | Illinois -350 (bet $350 to win $100)
- Against the spread/ATS: Indiana +7.5 (-120) | Illinois -7.5 (+100)
- Over/Under: 147.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
Indiana at Illinois: Three things to know
- Illinois has fallen since being ranked ninth in the Dec. 7 edition of the Amway Coaches Poll. The Illini have suffered early season losses to Baylor, Missouri and Rutgers. All three of those setbacks were away from home, where the Illini have won seven straight dating back to last February.
- Indiana is coming off a shaky 74-67 home loss to Northwestern (Wednesday). The Wildcats shot a robust 56% against a normally stout Hoosier defense. NU’s 74 points marked the most IU has allowed in a single game this season.
- Five U of I players are averaging more than 9.5 points per contest, and the Illini’s top two players — G Ayo Dosunmu and C Kofi Cockburn — have been tremendous in filling the bucket and sweeping the glass (combined 40.8 points and 17.1 rebounds per game).
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Indiana at Illinois: Odds, betting lines, predictions and picks
Prediction
Illinois 79, Indiana 68
Money line (ML)
Analytics rankings peg Illinois as easily the best three-loss team in the nation. The Illini have a high-octane offense (89.3 points per game), and they can score inside and outside the arc.
BACK THE FIGHTING ILLINI -350.
Against the spread (ATS)
The Hoosiers are 7-1-1 ATS over their last nine games against Illinois, and they are 5-0 over their last five contests following an ATS loss. But look for some bounce back in those trends Saturday. This is a solid rivalry, but the Illinois offense (and overall talent) mixed with this being a holiday travel game for IU make for a solid probability of a double-digit Illini victory.
BACK THE FIGHTING ILLINI -7.5 (+100).
Over/Under (O/U)
STEER CLEAR of a well-targeted total.
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