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.
Rankings courtesy of the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.
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.
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Illinois at Northwestern odds
Provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 2:05 p.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Illinois -180 (bet $180 to win $100) | Northwestern +140 (bet $100 to win $140)
- Against the spread (ATS): Illinois -3.5 (-115) | Northwestern +3.5 (-105)
- Over/Under (O/U): 134.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
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Illinois at Northwestern picks and predictions
Prediction
Illinois 68, Northwestern 63
Moneyline
ILLINOIS (-180) is a solid play on the moneyline if you don’t want to mess around with laying the points in a potentially close and low-scoring game, although it is at my personal limit.
The Illini were the much better team last season than the Wildcats, and Illinois did sweep Northwestern, but the margin of victory was just an average of 5.0 points per game. Illinois has won 8 straight meetings in the series dating back to Jan. 6, 2019, too.
Against the spread
ILLINOIS -3.5 (-115) is the lean here, although you can expect a good sweat. Go lightly, and play just a half-unit wager at most.
While the Illini has won 8 in a row in the series, Northwestern has covered 3 in a row in the series. The good news for potential Illini backers is that Illinois is 4-1 ATS in the past 5 trips to Evanston.
Over/Under
UNDER 132.5 (-105) is the lean here, but like the line, go lightly.
The Under is a perfect 7-for-7 in the previous 7 for the Illini against teams with a winning overall record, and it’s 5-2 in their past 7 games overall.
The Under is 13-3 in the past 16 at Welsh-Ryan the Northwestern, while going 4-1 in the past 5 games overall. The Under is 4-0 in the past 4 against teams with a winning record, too.
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