No. 17 Illinois hosts Northwestern after Jakucionis' 21-point game

Northwestern Wildcats (12-7, 3-5 Big Ten) at Illinois Fighting Illini (13-6, 5-4 Big Ten)

By The Associated Press

The Associated Press
January 26, 2025 at 8:45AM

Northwestern Wildcats (12-7, 3-5 Big Ten) at Illinois Fighting Illini (13-6, 5-4 Big Ten)

Champaign, Illinois; Sunday, 3 p.m. EST

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Fighting Illini -7.5; over/under is 148

BOTTOM LINE: No. 17 Illinois faces Northwestern after Kasparas Jakucionis scored 21 points in Illinois' 91-70 loss to the Maryland Terrapins.

The Fighting Illini have gone 8-3 in home games. Illinois leads the Big Ten in rebounding, averaging 41.8 boards. Tomislav Ivisic paces the Fighting Illini with 8.5 rebounds.

The Wildcats have gone 3-5 against Big Ten opponents. Northwestern has a 5-2 record in games decided by 10 or more points.

Illinois is shooting 44.5% from the field this season, 1.7 percentage points higher than the 42.8% Northwestern allows to opponents. Northwestern averages 6.5 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.1 more made shots on average than the 5.4 per game Illinois allows.

TOP PERFORMERS: Ben Humrichous is shooting 36.2% from beyond the arc with 2.0 made 3-pointers per game for the Fighting Illini, while averaging 8.6 points. Kylan Boswell is averaging 13.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, four assists and 1.7 steals over the past 10 games.

Brooks Barnhizer is averaging 18.5 points, 9.1 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.5 steals for the Wildcats. Nick Martinelli is averaging 19.7 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Fighting Illini: 6-4, averaging 85.6 points, 40.7 rebounds, 14.6 assists, 4.4 steals and 3.5 blocks per game while shooting 44.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73.5 points per game.

Wildcats: 6-4, averaging 75.0 points, 30.4 rebounds, 15.0 assists, 8.3 steals and 4.5 blocks per game while shooting 44.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 71.5 points.

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

about the writer

about the writer

The Associated Press

The Associated Press