Who's Playing

Illinois Fighting Illini @ Oregon Ducks

Current Records: Illinois 9-3, Oregon 12-1

How To Watch

What to Know

We've got another exciting Big Ten matchup on schedule as the Oregon Ducks and the Illinois Fighting Illini are set to tip at 10:00 p.m. ET on Thursday at Matthew Knight Arena. Both are strolling into their matches after big wins in their previous games.

Illinois is hoping to do what Weber State couldn't on Sunday: put an end to Oregon's winning streak, which now stands at three games. Oregon steamrolled past Weber State 89-49. That looming 89-49 mark stands out as the most commanding margin for the Ducks yet this season.

Oregon got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Brandon Angel out in front who made all 5 shots he took racking up 14 points plus seven rebounds and two steals. Angel had some trouble finding his footing against Stanford two weeks ago, so this was a nice turnaround. The team also got some help courtesy of Jadrian Tracey, who had 14 points.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Illinois). They took their matchup on Sunday with ease, bagging a 117-64 victory over Chicago State. The Fighting Illini have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won five games by 32 points or more this season.

Tomislav Ivisic and Kylan Boswell were among the main playmakers for Illinois as the former went 9 for 12 en route to 23 points plus five assists and two blocks and the latter dropped a triple-double on 18 points, ten rebounds, and ten assists. Another player making a difference was Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn, who went 7 for 9 en route to 16 points plus two steals.

Illinois was working as a unit and finished the game with 26 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.

Oregon's win bumped their record up to 12-1. As for Illinois, the victory made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 9-3.

Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as the two teams are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Oregon hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 79.5 points per game. However, it's not like Illinois struggles in that department as they've been averaging 86.4. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.

Looking ahead, Oregon is the favorite in this one, as the experts expect to see them win by 4.5 points. This contest will be their eighth straight as the favorites (so far over this stretch they are 4-3 against the spread).

Odds

Oregon is a 4.5-point favorite against Illinois, according to the latest college basketball odds.

The line has drifted a bit towards the Ducks, as the game opened with the Ducks as a 2.5-point favorite.


The over/under is 156 points.

See college basketball picks for every single game, including this one, from SportsLine's advanced computer model. Get picks now.