Wisconsin Badgers vs Illinois Fighting Illini Prediction, Picks and Game Preview - 12/10/2024

Game Time: 9:00 pm ET, Tuesday, December 10, 2024

Venue:  State Farm Center, Champaign, IL

Where to Watch:  Peacock

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  Wisconsin +6.5, Illinois -6.5; Over/Under:  152.5 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  Wisconsin +6.5, Illinois -6.5; Over/Under:  152.5 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  Wisconsin +6.5, Illinois -6.5; Over/Under:  152.5 points

Wisconsin Badgers:  8-2 (0-1) (12th place, Big Ten)

Illinois Fighting Illini:  6-2 (0-1) (14th place, Big Ten)

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Wisconsin Badgers:  3-2  last 5

Illinois Fighting Illini:  3-2  last 5

Wisconsin is entering this game with an 8-2 record overall, a 0-1 record in conference games, and they are 0-1 in their road games this season where they will be in this game. They are coming off a loss against the Marquette Golden Eagles in their last game. Max Klesmit led the team in points per game in that game with 22 while John Blackwell was next on the team with 17. Carter Gilmore led the team in assists with 5 in that game while Steven Crowl led the team in rebounds with 11. They were 46.2% from the field, 38.5% from 3-point range, and 88.9% from the free throw line with their shooting in that game. Their offense is averaging 82 PPG and their defense is allowing their opponents to average 70.9 PPG against them. Wisconsin has an ATS record of 5-5 this season and their O/U record is 8-2.

Illinois is entering this game with a 6-2 record overall, a 0-1 conference record, and they are 5-0 in their home games this season where they will be in this game. They are coming off a loss against the Northwestern Wildcats in their last game. Kasparas Jakučionis led the team in points in that game with 20 while Tomislav Ivišić was next on the team with 15. Kasparas Jakučionis led the team in assists with 7 in that game while Tomislav Ivišić led the team in rebounds with 12. They were 37.3% from the field, 26.5% from 3-point range, and 63.6% from the free throw line with their shooting in that game. Their offense is averaging 86.2 PPG and their defense is allowing their opponents to average 62.5 PPG against them. Illinois has an ATS record of 5-3 this season and their O/U record is 3-5.

The current betting odds have Wisconsin listed as a 6.5 point underdog in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. Wisconsin has looked really good in their games this season with their 8-2 record overall, but their 0-1 conference record has them near the bottom of the Big Ten. They are coming off another loss to Marquette in their last one too, and they have lost their only road game played this season. Meanwhile, Illinois has looked good in their games this season with their 6-2 record overall, but their 0-1 conference record also has them near the bottom of the Big Ten. They have looked great on their home court with their 5-0 home record, but they have also played in some tighter games against conference opponents. They lost their only conference game to Northwestern which was in their last one, but both of these teams are going to be desperate to bounce back with 0-1 records in the Big Ten already. Wisconsin has lost 2 games in a row too so they are going to be the more desperate team to avoid going on a losing streak and get in a conference hole early on. They got blown out by Marquette in a rivalry game so expect them to respond by bringing their best effort here, and they did play a much closer game against Michigan when they saw another Big Ten opponent. Illinois has looked great in their home games, but they struggled a lot more in conference play and even if they get the win here, they won't blow out a Wisconsin team that is desperate to bounce back. The best way to place a bet here is on Wisconsin to cover the spread in this game. 

Wisconsin Illinois Prediction:  Our NCAAB Pick for Tuesday, December 10, 2024 (9:00 pm ET start time) is Illinois 74 Wisconsin 71.

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Wisconsin Badgers: 3-13 ATS after failing to cover the spread in 3 or more consecutive games. 8-17 ATS in road games. 4-11 ATS off a road loss. 2-8 ATS after 2 or more consecutive losses. 17-8 OVER in road games. 9-4 OVER as a road underdog of 6 points or less or pick. 6-1 OVER when the total is 150 to 159.5. 10-5 OVER off a road loss.

Illinois Fighting Illini: 25-14 ATS versus good defensive teams - shooting pct defense of 42% or less. 10-5 ATS when playing against a top-level team (Win Pct. > 80%). 38-26 ATS versus good ball handling teams - committing 14 turnovers/game or less. 13-7 OVER after playing a road game. 26-16 OVER versus good shooting teams - making 45% of their shots or less. 31-19 OVER versus poor pressure defensive teams - forcing 14 turnovers/game or less.

Wisconsin Badgers:  None.

Illinois Fighting Illini:  None.

"Well, the ending message was that we don't have time to feel sorry for ourselves. We need to get better, and turn around and play in two days again in Illinois." - Greg Gard after his team’s loss against Marquette in their game on Saturday.

“If we shoot 50 [threes], I don’t care. It’s math. But you’ve got to offensive rebound. And I’ve gotten soft in practice. And not as demanding as I should be. We could talk about it. We can work on it in practice. But we were one of the top teams in the country last year in rebounding missed threes. …We’ve talked about it, but we’ve got to find some guys tough enough to want to go do that.” - Brad Underwood after his team’s loss against Northwestern in their game on Friday.

J. Blackwell 

S. Crowl 

M. Klesmit 

J. Tonje 

N. Winter

K. Boswell 

B. Humrichous 

T. Ivisic 

K. Jakucionis 

T. White

PPG: J. Tonje (21.5)

APG: S. Crowl (3.1)

Reb/G: S. Crowl (5.7)

PPG: T. Ivisic (16.1)

APG: K. Jakucionis (6.1)

Reb/G: T. Ivisic (9.3)

Coaches:

Wisconsin Badgers: Greg Gard (10th season)

Illinois Fighting Illini: Brad Underwood (8th season)