Michigan and Illinois forged two gut-wrenching overtime games back in the regular season. Both teams will give it another go on Wednesday as the Wolverines and the Fighting Illini square off in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament.
Read on below for a detailed preview of this game. You can also click here for our preview and prediction of the Big East’s Xavier vs. Butler tourney matchup.
[sc:MarchMadness ]Michigan Wolverines vs. Illinois Fighting Illini Betting Preview
Where: United Center, Chicago
When: Thursday, March 12, 2015 12:00 PM ET
Line: Michigan Wolverines vs. Illinois Fighting Illini – view all NCAA Basketball lines
Betting on the Michigan Wolverines
[sc:NCAAB240banner ]For the boys from Ann Arbor, a win this coming Thursday against Illinois means a step closer to turning their disappointing season around. The Wolverines, who finished Big Ten play with an 8-10 record, are eyeing a shocking conference tourney run to keep their faint hope for a spot in the Big Dance alive.
Caris LeVert’s absence is undeniably a huge loss for the Wolverines, who haven’t looked the same since losing their top scorer and rebounder to a foot injury last January 17th. It got worse for Michigan when its third-leading scorer Derrick Walton Jr. went down with a sprained toe late January.
Walton Jr. hasn’t played since January 24 and is doubtful to play in the Big Ten. These developments leave a heavy scoring burden on the shoulders of Zak Irvin (14.0 PPG) and Spike Albrecht (7.4 PPG) against Illinois on Thursday.
Irvin and Albrecht averaged 10.2 and 8.5 points in two meetings with the Fighting Illini in conference play.
Michigan is 8-2 ATS in its last 10 games against Illinois.
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Betting on the Illinois Fighting Illini
A bad 63-58 road loss at the hands of the Purdue Boilermakers on Saturday wasn’t exactly how Illinois wanted to finish its Big Ten play. The loss added questions to the Fighting Illini’s Big Dance credentials, but they can nevertheless get back on track if they can have a great tourney run, beginning with the game against Michigan.
A depleted Michigan roster should make the Fighting Illini feel good about their chances in this game, not to mention that they beat the same LaVert- and Walton-less Wolverines team in Illinois’ 64-52 victory on February 12. Armed with a defense that hasn’t allowed its last three opponents to score more than 63 points, Illinois is poised to take down the offensively challenged Wolverines, who are averaging just 64.6 points per game.
On the flipside, Illinois’ offense will be taken care of by Rayvonte Rice, Malcolm Hill, and Kendrick Nunn. The trio has been the core of Illinois’ offense that puts up 69.9 points per game. Rice leads the team with 17.0 points per game, while Hill and Nunn are chipping in 14.2 and 11.2 points per game, respectively.
Illinois is 3-0 ATS in its last three games overall.
Writer’s Prediction
Illinois wins, 70-62.
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