Illinois vs Northwestern prediction, college basketball game preview, how to watch: Sunday, February 13
Illinois vs Northwestern How To Watch
Date: Sunday, February 13
Game Time: 2:00 ET
Venue: State Farm Center, Champaign, IL
How To Watch: BTN
Record: Illinois (17-6), Northwestern (12-10)
– Sign up and live stream college basketball on ESPN+
– Today’s Best Bet to Lock in Now
– All of the CFN Fearless Predictions
Illinois vs Northwestern Game Preview
Why Northwestern Will Win
The Wildcats gave the Illini a run a few weeks ago in a 59-56 loss, and they’ve won three straight since then including a win over a suddenly smoking Rutgers.
They’re hitting from the outside, they’re not turning the ball over and giving up easy points, and they’ve been surprisingly great on the boards.
In the first meeting they were great on the free throw line and were able to hold up against Illinois on the outside.
There wasn’t an answer for Kofi Cockburn on the inside, but if Northwestern can once again neutralize the Illini outside shooting, it’ll have a shot.
Why Illinois Will Win
Yeah, Mr. Cockburn.
Illinois is coming off a rough loss at Purdue, but it’s shooting just fine on the inside thanks to 21, the rebounding is among the best in the conference, and the offense is moving the ball around well enough to give a whole slew of other parts a scoring taste.
Northwestern might be playing well lately, and the offense showed up big for Rutgers and in the win over Indiana, but there’s going to be a problem.
Northwestern isn’t good enough at guarding the three.
It was able to do a good job over the last few games, but overall it allows teams to hit about 36% from outside the arc. So …
– Top 25 Game Previews, Predictions
What’s Going To Happen
Work it inside to Cockburn, move it outside to grab the momentum from three, and get back on track after the Purdue loss. Illinois will come up with a stronger performance than the last meeting with Northwestern.
It won’t be a layup of a win, but it’ll come up with a nice performance with a great shooting day.
Illinois vs Northwestern Prediction, Lines
Illinois 78, Northwestern 65
Line: COMING, o/u: COMING
ATS Confidence out of 5: COMING
Must See Rating: 3
5: Rams -4.5
1: Vegan-themed Super Bowl parties
