The Nebraska Cornhuskers (5-16 overall, 1-13 Big Ten) visit the Illinois Fighting Illini (16-6, 12-4) in a Thursday evening (7 p.m. ET) contest at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Ill. Below, we analyze the Nebraska-Illinois college basketball odds and lines, with picks and predictions.
Illinois is No. 4 in the Ferris Mowers Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports.
Nebraska at Illinois: Odds, spread and lines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 7:50 a.m. ET.
- Money line: Nebraska +850 (bet $100 to win $850) | Illinois -1600 (bet $1,600 to win $100)
- Against the spread/ATS: Nebraska +14.5 (-110) | Illinois -14.5 (-110)
- Over/Under: 145.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
Nebraska at Illinois: Three things to know
- Illinois is coming off a shaky, 81-72, loss at Michigan State Tuesday. The Spartans shot 54.2% from the floor against a U of I defense that has scuffled on the road.
- Nebraska played Illinois tough at home Feb. 12. The favored-by-14 Illini won, 77-72, in a game that went to overtime. The ‘Huskers led or were tied for approximately 30 minutes in that contest.
- Illinois G Ayo Dosunmu ranks second in the Big Ten in scoring at 21.0 points per game. Dosunmu went 12-for-23 from the floor and dished out six assists in a 31-point performance against the Cornhuskers Feb. 12.
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Nebraska at Illinois: Odds, lines, predictions and picks
Prediction
Illinois 81, Nebraska 63
Money line (ML)
PASS. Move along and find a bit of value on Illinois against the number.
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Against the spread (ATS)
Illinois is 8-4 ATS at home, and the home team is 4-1 ATS in the last five games of this series. The Illini’s defense has been much better on home hardwood. NU is just 1-7 on the road.
The Illini can struggle against good offensive rebounding teams. Nebraska put up a fight in that facet of the game in meeting No. 1, but hitting the glass is not at all an overall strength for the ‘Huskers.
Look for UI to bounce back from its first loss since mid-January. TAKE ILLINOIS -14.5 (-110).
Over/Under (O/U)
The last half-dozen times the Illini have lost straight-up, the following game has hit the Over five times. And that’s the lean here, but STEER CLEAR. A 142-to-147 total looks to be highly likely, but there isn’t enough value to warrant any action at 145.5.
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