The Wildcats want to get back into the win column on their final road trip downstate.
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Previewing tonight’s game, and how to watch it.
These two in-state rivals sure have taken divergent paths since their initial meeting in early January.
Before it was Northwestern that now look like a hopeless unit that has drudged its way through nine straight losses, it was Illinois that was playing forlornly, as it ended their January with a dismal 6-15 record, with just four non-conference wins.
But since narrowly falling to the Wildcats 68-66 at Welsh-Ryan Arena earlier this year, the youthful Illini have won six games, including two upsets over tournament-bound Maryland and Michigan State.
Brad Underwood’s squad have posited themselves as the most exciting —and dangerous — ten-win team in the nation, and for good reason.
Illinois, the fourth-highest scoring team in the Big Ten at 73.3 points per game will play host a Northwestern team that hasn’t scored more than seventy points in close to a month.
Northwestern, who notoriously have been playing without a true point guard all season, stand in stark contrast to an Illini team that’s been lead by some strong, albeit inexperienced guard play in Ayo Dosunmu and Trent Frazier, two of their top scorers. Dosunmu hung 18 points on Northwestern on 6-for-12 shooting the first time around.
In their first game, Frazier was bested by Anthony Gaines, as the sophomore was held to just six points on eight shots. He’s improved his game greatly since then, averaging 13.2 points per game, while Gaines has posted more than ten points just once since last month.
Freshman forward Giorgi Bezhanishvilli has had several strong outings since being limited to eight points and three rebounds in 19 minutes against Dererk Pardon the first time around. He’s reached double figures in nine of his last thirteen, and corrals an average of 5.5 rebounds on 28.2 minutes a game.
Peter’s Pick
It feels cruel to keep picking against Northwestern, but with nine straight losses, they’ve shown no inclination that they’ll suddenly snap out of their funk on the road against a vastly improved Illinois team. To boot, the Wildcats have been outscored by 58 in five road games during this losing spell. Everything will have to go right for the Wildcats tonight to prevent this losing streak from extending into the double digits.
Pick: Illinois -5.5
Start Time
5:30 p.m. CT
Betting Information (Bovada)
ATS: Illinois -5.5
ML: Illinois -250, Northwestern +210
O/U: 137
Broadcast Information
TV: BTN
Stream: BTN2Go
Radio: AM 720 WGN
