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Illinois Fighting Illini @ Northwestern Wildcats

Current Records: Illinois 6-1, Northwestern 6-3

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What to Know

Illinois is preparing for their first Big Ten matchup of the season on Friday. They and the Northwestern Wildcats will face off at 9:00 p.m. ET at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The Fighting Illini know how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 82 points or more in their past four contests -- so hopefully the Wildcats like a good challenge.

Illinois' offense will try to repeat the strong performance it gave last Thursday, when they got past Arkansas' usually-dominant defense. Illinois came out on top against Arkansas by a score of 90-77.

Illinois' victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Tomislav Ivisic, who shot 6-for-9 from deep and dropped a double-double on 21 points and ten rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Kylan Boswell, who went 6 for 10 en route to 18 points plus six assists and five rebounds.

Meanwhile, Northwestern lost 80-79 to Iowa on a last-minute jump shot From Josh Dix.

The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Brooks Barnhizer, who dropped a double-double on 21 points and ten rebounds. His evening made it three games in a row in which he has scored at least 22.4 points. Another player making a difference was Ty Berry, who earned 20 points in addition to two steals.

Illinois' win bumped their record up to 6-1. As for Northwestern, their loss dropped their record down to 6-3.

Keep an eye on the arc in Friday's match: Illinois has made nailing deep shots look easy this year this season, having averaged 11.9 threes per game. It's a different story for Northwestern, though, as they've been averaging only 5.8. Given Illinois' sizable advantage in that area, Northwestern will need to find a way to close that gap.

Looking forward, Illinois is the favorite in this one, as the experts expect to see them win by 3.5 points. This will be their first time playing on the road this season.

Odds

Illinois is a 3.5-point favorite against Northwestern, according to the latest college basketball odds.

The oddsmakers were right in line with the betting community on this one, as the game opened as a 3.5-point spread, and stayed right there.


The over/under is 143.5 points.

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Series History

Illinois has won 8 out of their last 10 games against Northwestern.

  • Jan 24, 2024 - Northwestern 96 vs. Illinois 91
  • Jan 02, 2024 - Illinois 96 vs. Northwestern 66
  • Feb 23, 2023 - Illinois 66 vs. Northwestern 62
  • Jan 04, 2023 - Northwestern 73 vs. Illinois 60
  • Feb 13, 2022 - Illinois 73 vs. Northwestern 66
  • Jan 29, 2022 - Illinois 59 vs. Northwestern 56
  • Feb 16, 2021 - Illinois 73 vs. Northwestern 66
  • Jan 07, 2021 - Illinois 81 vs. Northwestern 56
  • Feb 27, 2020 - Illinois 74 vs. Northwestern 66
  • Jan 18, 2020 - Illinois 75 vs. Northwestern 71