Saturday afternoon features a Big Ten matchup of top-25 teams as the No. 5 Illinois Fighting Illini (17-6) take on the No. 23 Wisconsin Badgers (16-8). The Badgers will host this one at the Kohl Center, with tip-off scheduled for 2:00 pm ET.
Illinois is currently ranked 2nd in the Big Ten, but they are about to get tested in a big way. Their last three games of the season are against No. 23 Wisconsin, No. 3 Michigan, and No. 4 Ohio State. With both Big Ten standings and playoff seeding on the line, the Illini will look to end the regular season on a strong note.
After dropping back-to-back games to No. 3 Michigan (67-59) and No. 9 Iowa (77-62), the Badgers were able to bounce back with a 68-51 win over Northwestern last Sunday. At 10-7 in the conference, the Badgers currently sit 6th in the Big Ten. Still, as they look to boost their postseason resume, a win over the No. 5 Illini could be huge.
The Badgers are the favorites playing at home. They are -168 to win while the Illini’s moneyline is +142. The spread features Illinois +3.5 while the over/under for total points is 136.5.
By The Numbers
Offensively, Illinois has been one of the best teams in the nation. They currently rank 12th, averaging 81.5 points per game. Wisconsin ranks 195th, averaging 69.8 points per game.
Defensively, it is Wisconsin with the big advantage. They rank 19th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 62.7 points per game to opponents. Illinois falls to 122nd, allowing 69.2 points per game.
Illinois Trying To Win Without Star Guard
Unfortunately for Illini fans, they may be playing this game without their biggest star, Ayo Dosunmu. A hard foul in Tuesday’s loss to Michigan State left the guard with a broken nose. While no specific timetable has been issued for Dosunmu, he sat out of their win over Nebraska on Thursday.
That would be a huge loss for Illinois against a decent Wisconsin team. While Illinois beat them earlier this month by 15 points, Dosunmu had a triple-double in the game with 21 points, 12 rebounds, and 12 assists.
In his absence, freshman guard Adam Miller will need to step up. Against Nebraska on Thursday, he did. In the victory, Miller had 18 points and 4 rebounds.
The Illini will also look to their big man, Kofi Cockburn, to step up his game. Cockburn has been impressive this season, averaging a double-double with 17.7 points, 10 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game.
Wisconsin Hopes To Stay Hot At Home
While they are just a game over .500 on the road (5-4), the Badgers have been rather impressive at home with a record of 11-4. Even though they have lost their last two home games, they will look to get back in the win column at the Kohl Center on Saturday.
Leading the way for the Badgers this season has been senior guard D’Mitrik Trice. He is averaging 13.5 points, 3.6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 steal per game. In their first matchup with the Illini, Trice led the Badgers with 22 points.
The only other player averaging double digits is forward Micah Potter. He is averaging 12.4 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game.
Taking Illinois And The Points
It is definitely worth keeping your eyes on whether Dosunmu plays or not, but even if he doesn’t, I think the Illini have enough to pull off the road upset.
The Badgers have won only three of their last seven games, and their offense has been shaky at best. Even if Dosunmu doesn’t play, the Illini have plenty of scoring depth to make up for the loss.
While it might not be a 15 point beating like their first encounter, I still like Illinois to win this one straight up. Worst case scenario, I like Illinois getting the 3.5 points.
