Illinois Fighting Illini vs. Northwestern Wildcats 12/6/24 NCAA Men’s Basketball Best Odds and Preview

Illinois Fighting Illini vs. Northwestern Wildcats 12/6/24 – This Friday night lights up with an exciting Big Ten showdown as the Illinois Fighting Illini (6-1) clash with the Northwestern Wildcats (6-3) at the Welsh-Ryan Arena. As we edge closer to the heart of the college basketball season, both teams are setting the stage for a pivotal conference game. Illinois, off to a strong start with only one loss, faces a Northwestern team that has shown resilience with a commendable home record.

Team	SP/RL	TOTAL	ML
Fighting Illini	-2.5 (-110)	144 over (-110)	-154
Wildcats	+2.5 (-110)	144 under (-110)	+130

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The Illini are the narrowest of favorites going into the contest as evident by their spread of -2.5 and moneyline of -154. The over/under for this matchup is 144 with both the over and under lines priced at -110, indicating that a reasonable number of points should be scored. Bettors might pay attention to the trends while the state of Illinois has recently been bad in covering the spread against Northwestern in the previous games.

Tomislav Ivisic (Center) vs. Brooks Barnhizer (Guard)

This season, the Illinois center, Tomislav Ivisic, is averaging 16.3 points and 8.9 rebounds per game and has been a great force throughout the season. He has a 56.6% success rate shooting from the field under the basket, which is a formidable option. Yet, his free throw percentage and turnovers might become problems against a tough Northwestern defense.

For their part, Northwestern’s Brooks Barnhizer has been more than just a scorer with 20.2 points per game though — more importantly, he has also been an influential playmaker. It’s no surprise that he has a free throw percentage of slightly 92.9% and contributes to 3.8 assists and 1.8 steals per game. Barnhizer’s strength could put I’dvisic on the edge, particularly from long range.

One of the major battles will be between Ivisic and Barnhizer. Ivisic will have his work cut out for him in the post, while on the other end somewhere Barnhizer’s quickness and shooting may be able to open up the Illini defense. In a very close contest what will be paramount is how both of these players are able to assert themselves in this contest.

Illini’s Offensive Juggernaut

On the offensive end, the Illinois Fighting Illini have been tremendous and are averaging 89.1 points per game. This is consistent with their policy of being aggressive as indicated also by their high number of field and free throw attempts. With such an expansive offense, Northwestern will have to face a very tough challenge on defense especially in the area of handling Illinois’ temper play. The loss against Alabama (87-100) does point towards some weak areas when the pressure mounts which they showed they could deal with by beating Arkansas and Trojans in their next match.

Wildcats’ Defensive Resilience

Undoubtedly, Northwestern has performed massively well so far this season at Welsh-Ryan Arena, where they are still undefeated. The manner in which they approach a game has decisively controlled the tempo and limited scoring opportunities for their foes, which is essential against a scoring juggernaut like Illinois. In this contest, the Wildcats’ capacity to create turnovers and score on them could be an asset. In their last five matches, they have a close loss against Iowa (79-80) which speaks volumes on how they can compete with other teams.

Trends

Illinois Fighting Illini Betting Trends

Illinois are 10-3 ATS in their last 13 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Illinois’ last 9 games.
Illinois are 13-2 SU in their last 15 games.
Illinois are 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games against Northwestern.
Illinois are 10-2 SU in their last 12 games against Northwestern.

Northwestern Wildcats Betting Trends

Northwestern are 2-6 ATS in their last 8 games.
Northwestern are 5-2 SU in their last 7 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Northwestern’s last 8 games against Illinois.
Northwestern are 6-0 SU in their last 6 games at home.
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Northwestern’s last 9 games when playing at home against Illinois.