
Indiana vs Illinois Prediction 1/14/25 College Basketball Picks Today
Illinois (12-4) vs. Indiana (13-4)
January 14, 2025 7:00 pm EDT
The Line: Indiana +3.5; Over/Under: 158.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Illinois Fighting Illini and the Indiana Hoosiers meet Tuesday in college basketball action from Bloomington Assembly Hall. Here’s an Indiana vs Illinois prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Indiana vs Illinois pick.
Illinois Fighting Illini Betting Preview
The Fighting Illini have remained quite the steady team so far this season, and they’ve managed to avoid consecutive losses. Illinois does have a couple of tough defeats, though. Following a 6-1 opening run with a lone loss to Alabama amid wins over Eastern Illinois, SIU Edwardsville, Oakland, MD Eastern Shore, Little Rock, and Arkansas, the Illini hit a 1-2 stretch. The lone win in that time was over Wisconsin, sandwiched between losses to Northwestern and Tennessee. The Illini would rebound with wins over Missouri, Chicago State, Oregon, Washington, and Penn State over the next five games, but then took an upset loss at home versus USC over the weekend to drop the team to 12-4 overall on the season thus far.
In the USC matchup on Saturday, the Illini were looking okay after one half with a 38-35 edge. Illinois wilted in the second however, getting outscored 47-34 the rest of the way during an 82-72 loss. Tops in scoring was Ben Humrichous, who notched 15 points and five rebounds during the losing effort. Tre White put up 11 points with four boards and two assists, while Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn had 11 points with two rebounds off the bench in 31 minutes of work. Kylan Boswell chipped in 10 points with eight rebounds, six assists, and five steals as well.
Indiana Hoosiers Betting Preview
Over on the Indiana side, they’ve looked pretty good overall for most of the year themselves—but similarly, they’ve got a couple of bad losses in the books. The Hoosiers hit an 8-2 run over their first 10 games, losing to Louisville and Gonzaga in late November amid wins over SIU Edwardsville, Eastern Illinois, South Carolina, UNC Greensboro, Providence, Sam Houston, Miami OH, and Minnesota. Following a loss to Nebraska, the Hoosiers took out Chattanooga, Winthrop, Rutgers, Penn State, and USC before another loss to Iowa, which gave Indiana a 13-4 overall record through the first 17 games of the season.
Matched up against Iowa on Saturday, the Hoosiers came out of the break looking up at a 43-33 deficit on the scoreboard. Indiana was blitzed 42-27 in the second half, limping to an 85-60 blowout loss. Leading team scorer Myles Rice notched 12 points with five assists, one rebound, and one steal. Oumar Ballo was the only other player in double-figures, notching a double-double on 10 points, 13 rebounds, and one assist in 24 minutes of work on the floor. Both Bryson Tucker and Kanaan Carlyle posted nine points apiece off the bench.
Why the Indiana Hoosiers will win
- Indiana has won each of its last 13 games at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
- Indiana has won the first half in eight of its last nine games at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
Why the Illinois Fighting Illini will win
- Indiana has lost each of its last eight games against AP-ranked opponents.
- Illinois has won 18 of its last 20 games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
- Illinois has won the first half in each of its last 14 games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
Indiana vs Illinois Prediction
I’m going to stick with Illinois. The Illini could use a good bounce-back effort here, and they’ll need a statistical shot in the arm to get it. In their upset loss to USC over the weekend, Illinois managed to shoot just 37.1 percent from the field and 21.9 percent from 3-point range (7-of-32) while coughing up 15 turnovers for 18 Trojans points. It was one of the Illini’s worst performances of the season—and they did it at home against a team they probably should have handled easily. Still, Illinois has posted 72 or more points in six straight games (a 5-1 run) and should put up a decent total here as well.
As for Indiana, they were quite permissive in their blowout loss to Iowa, giving up 54.2 percent shooting with a 37-31 rebounding deficit and 16 turnovers for 24 Hawkeyes points. The Hoosiers have given up 68 or more points in five straight games, so Illinois should have plenty of room to score here. The Illini need a big win on the road against a rival Hoosiers squad here in order to regain some national respect. I think they’ll get it.