Check out our free Illinois vs Wisconsin pick and preview for this NCAA Basketball game in Madison. See who we like to win and cover the spread in this College Basketball matchup.
Illinois vs Wisconsin Pick & Preview: Saturday, January 28th Betting Odds
Fighting Illini vs Badgers Matchup at a Glance
- Sport: NCAAB
- Teams: Illinois Fighting Illini at Wisconsin Badgers
- Where: Madison at Kohl Center
- Date: Saturday, January 28th
- Betting Odds: Illinois -2.5, ILL -142 | WISC +115 O/U 131.5
Fighting Illini Preview:
Illinois will take the floor against the Badgers with an overall record of 14-6. On the road, the Fighting Illini will be playing their 8th game of the season, having gone 4-4. This season, Illinois has been favored to win in 17 games, sitting with a mark of 12-5. For today’s contest, Illinois has a betting line set -2.5 points in their favor.
Illinois’ leading scorer this season is Terrence Shannon Jr., who is averaging 18.0 points per contest. So far, Jr. has accounted for 23.73% of the team’s scoring. In addition, he is contributing 5.55 rebounds per game and 3.15 assists. Matthew Mayer is the second leading scorer for the Fighting Illini, averaging 10.55 points per game. Between him and Mayer, they are accounting for 37.6% of the team’s scoring.
So far this season, Illinois has put together a strong scoring offense at 75.8 points per game (66th). This strong figure has come despite the Fighting Illini playing at a slow tempo compared to other schools. For the season, they have hit 36.7% of their shots from outside, which is closer to the NCAA average. Illinois’ overall field goal percentage currently sits at 45.3%
Badgers Preview:
Heading into today’s matchup vs Illinois, the Wisconsin Badgers will be taking the floor for the 20th time this season and have an overall record of 12-7. So far this season, Wisconsin has played 11 games at home, sitting with a record of 9-2. For the season, Wisconsin has been the underdog in 9 games, sitting with a mark of 3-6. Currently, the oddsmakers have the lines set with the Badgers being +2.5 point underdogs.
Steven Crowl comes into today’s game as the Badgers’ leading scorer at 12.58 points per contest. Not only has Crowl been key to the team’s scoring efforts, but he is Wisconsin’s top rebounder at 6.68 boards per contest. Behind Crowl, the team has benefited from the strong play of Chucky Hepburn, who is second on the team in scoring at 12.16 points per game. Overall, he has hit 39.3% of his shots and is adding 3.05 boards per game.
Offensive production has been hard to come by for Wisconsin this season, as they are currently ranked 219th in college basketball at 70.7 points per game. A major reason for low scoring totals is the fact that they have played at a below average pace, and have struggled to knock down outside shots. As a team, the Badgers’ 3-point shooting percentage sits at just 31.2%, placing them 410th in the NCAA.
Free Spread Prediction: Wisconsin Badgers +2.5
After boiling down all the statistics and trends, it is clear why the oddsmakers have placed the Illinois Fighting Illini as the favorites to win. Not only do the Wisconsin Badgers have a mediocre record vs the spread at home of late 5-5, but Illinois also has the statistical edge in 3-pointers made per game and overall field goal percentage. Yet, our model shows that the current odds of -2.5 in favor of the Fighting Illini is too high and there is good value on grabbing Wisconsin vs the spread. While most bettors will likely be piling on the Illinois Fighting Illini as the favorite, we full good about taking the oppsite side and grabbing Wisconsin taking the points.
