Illinois vs Tennessee Prediction 12-14-24 College Basketball Picks

The Tennessee Volunteers and the Illinois Fighting Illini meet Saturday in college basketball action from the State Farm Center. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Illinois vs Tennessee Prediction.

Tennessee Recap

The Tennessee Volunteers come into this one looking to build on a 75-62 win over Miami last time out. After this game, Tennessee will head home to take on Western Carolina.

Volunteers Looking To Remain Unbeaten

Chaz Lanier leads the Vols in scoring with 19.1 PPG while Igor Milicic Jr. has 12.9 PPG with a team-high 7.3 RPG to lead the Vols on the glass. Zakai Zeigler has 12.1 PPG with 3.2 RPG and a team-high 8 APG to lead the Vols in the assist department up to this point in the year. Jordan Gainey has 10.3 PPG to round out the group of double-digit scorers for Tennessee up to this point in the year. As a team, Tennessee is averaging 82.4 PPG on 52.1% shooting from the field, 37.7% from three and 74.1% from the foul line this season.

Why the Tennessee Volunteers will win

• Tennessee has won each of its last 10 games against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Illinois Recap

The Illinois Fighting Illini come into this one looking to build on an 86-80 win over Wisconsin last time out. After this game, Illinois will head to a neutral floor to take on Missouri.

Illini Looking For Big Home Win

Kasparas Jakucionis leads the Illini in scoring and assists with 15.4 PPG and 6 APG along with 6.4 RPG while Tomislav Ivisic has 15.3 PPG with a team-high 9.4 RPG to lead the Illini in rebounding up to this point in the year. Will Riley has 13.9 PPG with 4.1 RPG and Kylan Boswell has 10.1 PPG with 3.8 RPG and 3.7 APG to cap off the scoring in double figures for Illinois so far this season. Tre White also has 8.9 PPG with 5.3 RPG and Ben Humrichous has 8.7 PPG as well on the year. As a team, Illinois is averaging 86.2 PPG on 44.4% shooting from the field, 33.6% from three and 71.9% from the foul line this season.

Why the Illinois Fighting Illini will win

• Illinois has won each of its last 10 games against non-Conference opponents at State Farm Center.

Illinois vs Tennessee Prediction

I’m on Tennessee here. I just think that the Vols are going to be the toughest defense that Illinois has faced up to this point in the year, and the Vols have shown no letup this early in the year. Tennessee already went on the road and blew out a really good Louisville team by 22 points last month, and I think they can get the road win here. Give me Tennessee.