Penn State Nittany Lions at Illinois Fighting Illini Betting Preview

Tuesday night features a matchup of Big Ten rivals as the Penn State Nittany Lions (3-5) take on the No. 22 Illinois Fighting Illini (9-5). The Illini will host this one from the State Farm Center, with tipoff scheduled for 8:30 pm ET.
For Penn State, it has been a disappointing start to the season as it is 3-5 overall and 0-4 in the conference. The Nittany Lions have lost four in a row, including a 98-81 loss to Illinois back on Dec. 23. In that loss, Izaiah Brockington and Myreon Jones led the way with 21 points apiece.
Illinois comes into this one reeling after back-to-back disappointing home losses to unranked Maryland (66-63) and No. 21 Ohio State (87-81). In need of a victory and a confidence boost, it might be the perfect time to face a Penn State team that is winless in the conference.
Illinois comes in as the overwhelming favorite playing at home. The Fighting Illini are -390 to win, while Penn State’s moneyline sits at +310. The spread has the Illini as 7.5-point favorites, while the over/under for total points is 153.5.
By The Numbers
Offensively, Illinois has been one of the best teams in the nation. The Illini currently rank 12th in scoring, averaging 83.1 points per game. Penn State isn’t too bad either, as it ranks 54th, averaging 77.6 points per game.
Defensively, it is once again the Illini that hold the edge. They rank 123rd in the nation in scoring defense, allowing 69.1 points per game. Penn State is 284th overall, allowing 76.8 points.
Looking For First Conference Win
Penn State has a knack for playing teams tough. For instance, the Nittany Lions’ last four losses, three have been by eight or less, including a four-point loss to No. 7 Michigan back in the middle of December.
Still, the Nittany Lions have yet to break into the win column in Big Ten play and will try to do so Tuesday night.
The Nittany Lions have four players averaging in double digits, led by guards Jones and Brockington. On the season, Jones is averaging 15.4 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.5 steals, while Brockington is averaging 14.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists.
The other two averaging in double digits are Seth Lundy (11.9 points, 3.5 rebounds) and Sam Sessoms (11.5 points, 2.8 assists, 1.6 steals).
Illini Hope To Get Back On Track
Even though they rank 22nd in the nation, the Illini have fallen to sixth in the Big Ten thanks to back-to-back conference losses. With a struggling Penn State team coming to town, they will look to reverse that trend.
Leading the way for the Illini this season have been guard Ayo Dosunmu and center Kofi Cockburn. In fact, the first time these teams played, that duo combined for 53 points.
Thus far, Dosunmu has averaged 22.4 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game. Cockburn has averaged a double-double with 17.1 points and 10.1 rebounds while also averaging 1.3 blocks per game.
Other contributors include Adam Miller (9.6 points), Andre Curbelo (8.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 4.4 assists) and Trent Frazier (8.4 points, 2.9 rebounds, three assists).
Taking Illinois To Bounce Back
It has been a frustrating week for the Illini with back-to-back home losses. That could actually spell bad news for Penn State as Illinois seems poised to take out their frustrations on the Nittany Lions.
The Illini are just too good to drop a third in a row, especially to a weak Penn State team, so I am taking the Illini to both win and cover the 7.5-point spread in this one.