Illinois vs Northwestern Prediction 2/4/26 College Basketball Picks Today

The Northwestern Wildcats and the Illinois Fighting Illini meet Wednesday in college basketball action from State Farm Center in Champaign. Here’s an Illinois vs Northwestern prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Illinois vs Northwestern pick.

Northwestern Wildcats Betting Preview

The Wildcats started out the year with a four-game win streak, then fell to Virginia before another win over South Carolina. After that came a rough 3-9 run over the next 12 games. The only wins in that time came versus Jackson State, Valparaiso and Howard. It’s been a 2-2 stretch over the last four outings with wins over USC and Penn State among losses to UCLA and Washington. That makes for a 10-12 overall record in 22 games.

Back on Saturday versus Washington, Northwestern entered the second half sporting a 39-27 deficit. The Wildcats were outscored by two the rest of the way on a 37-35 stretch and lost the game at home 76-62 in the end. Northwestern’s top scorer was Nick Martinelli with 19 points and nine rebounds in the loss, while Arrinten Page had 16 points with eight rebounds in 26 minutes of action.

Illinois Fighting Illini Betting Preview

Over on the Illinois side, they posted a reasonable 8-3 run over their first 11 games this year. Those losses came courtesy of Alabama, UConn and Nebraska. The Illini have been on a tear since then, taking out Missouri, Southern, Penn State, Rutgers, Iowa, Northwestern, Minnesota, Maryland, Purdue, Washington and Nebraska in succession. That gives Illinios a 19-3 record so far this year.

In the Sunday matchup versus Nebraska, Illinois was in the locker room sitting on a 39-33 deficit. The Fighting Illini stormed back in the second half on a 45-30 run however, eventually bagging the comeback victory on the road 78-69 in the end. Keaton Wagler finished with 28 points, five rebounds and five assists while Jake Davis had 13 points with three rebounds. Tomislav Ivisic chipped in 12 points with eight boards and three assists as well.

Why the Illinois Fighting Illini will win

• Illinois has won each of its last 19 games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Northwestern has lost each of its last 10 games against AP-ranked opponents.
• Illinois has won the first half in each of its last 15 night games against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Why the Northwestern Wildcats will win

• Northwestern has won the first half in four of its last five road night games against Conference opponents.

Illinois vs Northwestern Prediction

I’ll lean toward Illinois I suppose. The Illini really showed their potential in a tricky road matchup versus a very good Nebraska team over the weekend. In that one Illinois shot 44.4 percent from the field and a pretty nice 80.8 percent (21-of-26) from the line. The Illini also had a 36-25 advantage on the boards, a 28-18 edge on points in the paint and just seven turnovers along the way. That makes for an 11-game win streak for the Illini, which they’ve pulled off against some tough Big Ten competition.

As for Northwestern, they couldn’t keep pace with Washington in their latest home loss on Saturday. The Wildcats shot just 38.6 percent from the field with a 40-27 rebounding deficit and 10 turnovers in that one. Northwestern is just 2-7 in their last nine games but to be fair they’ve played some top-shelf national teams in that time. The Wildcats have another tough road matchup looming on Wednesday.