The Michigan Wolverines and the Illinois Fighting Illini meet Friday in college basketball action from State Farm Center in Champaign. Here’s a Illinois vs Michigan Prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Illinois vs Michigan pick.
Michigan Wolverines Betting Preview
The Wolverines opened up their year with victories in 14 straight games before their first loss to Wisconsin on January 10. Next came victories over Washington, Oregon, Indiana, Ohio State, Nebraska and Michigan State in the next half-dozen, then wins over Penn State, Ohio State, Northwestern, UCLA and Purdue. After another loss to Duke, the Wolverines were sitting at 25-2 through 27 games.
On Tuesday versus Minnesota, the Wolverines held a modest four-point lead 32-28 at the break. Michigan hit a 45-39 run in the second half on the way to a 77-67 victory on their home court. Leading the charge was Cade Tyson with 20 points and six rebounds. Langston Reynolds added 15 points with four rebounds, three assists, three steals and one block in the victory.
Illinois Fighting Illini Betting Preview
Over on the Illinois side, they posted wins in eight of their opening 11 games to start the season. The Illini then hit a win streak over Missouri, Southern, Penn State, Rutgers, Iowa, Northwestern, Minnesota, Maryland, Purdue, Washington, Nebraska and Northwestern. Next came losses to Michigan State and Wisconsin, then wins over Indiana and USC before another loss to UCLA.
Matched up against UCLA last weekend, the Illini held a 50-43 advantage at the break. Illinois was outscored 43-36 the rest of the way however, and had to go to overtime. Following the extra period, the Illini walked away with a tough loss on the road 95-94. Keaton Wagler led the team on 19 points with eight boards and six assists while Tomislav Ivisic had 16 points with six rebounds.
Why the Illinois Fighting Illini will win
- Illinois has won each of its last nine games against Michigan.
- Michigan has lost each of its last four games at State Farm Center.
- Illinois has won the first half in each of its last 11 night games.
Why the Michigan Wolverines will win
- Michigan has won each of its last 13 night games against Conference opponents.
- Illinois has lost seven of its last eight games at State Farm Center against Top 5 AP-ranked opponents.
- Illinois has lost the first half in each of its last six games against Top 5 AP-ranked opponents.
Total Points Facts
- Each of Illinois’ last eight night games against Top 10 AP-ranked opponents at State Farm Center have produced a total of 155 or fewer points.
- Eighteen of Michigan’s last 20 night games against Top 10 AP-ranked opponents have produced a total of 154 or fewer points.
Michigan vs Illinois Prediction
I’ll lean toward Michigan but you could make a case either way. The Wolverines played fairly well overall versus Minnesota this week, shooting 50 percent from the field with 42.4 percent (14-of-33) from 3-point range and a 37-16 rebounding advantage. Michigan did cough up 14 turnovers though, and gave up a fairly high 45.5 percent shooting from the field. The Wolverines have still lost just one game since January 10 (versus Duke on February 21), a span of 13 outings.
As for Illinois, they didn’t shoot very well from the field (40.6 percent) and gave up 50.7 percent shooting on defense during their road loss to UCLA over the weekend. The Illini got outscored in the paint 38-30 but did have a sizable advantage on the boards 40-23. Illinois has hit a rough patch recently with three losses in the last five games. They’re in for another tough matchup here, but I like the Illini to hold their own if all goes well.