Illinois Basketball vs Northwestern Gameday Guide & Prediction

Illinois basketball will head back on the road for a matchup against in-state rival Northwestern. The Illini will be playing their first back-to-back road games of the season and are looking to knock off Northwestern in Evanston for the first time since 2022.

Date: Wednesday, January 14
Time: 7:30 PM
Channel: BTN
Line: Illinois -9.5

The Illini are currently 9.5-point favorites despite playing on the road. Northwestern enters the game 0-5 in Big Ten play and 8-8 overall. Illinois is clearly the better team on paper in this year’s matchup, but Northwestern forward Nick Martinelli will attempt to will the Wildcats to a win.

Martinelli is leading the nation in scoring at 24.1 points per game while also averaging 6.8 rebounds. The senior from Glenview, Illinois, scored 27 points and grabbed six rebounds in last year’s 70–66 win over the Illini. He is Northwestern’s best player by far and should be a major point of emphasis for the Illini defense.

“Nick is just having one of the great, great years in college basketball”, said Brad Underwood. “His shooting is off the charts. He does it in a lot of ways”.

Illinois should have a significant advantage on the glass Wednesday night. The Wildcats have struggled on the defensive boards, while the Illini rank among the best teams in the country in offensive rebounding percentage.

If Illinois takes care of the ball and stays out of foul trouble, the Illini should be in a strong position to secure their fourth road win of the season. Northwestern is just 2-7 when they lose the foul margin and 2-6 when its opponent commits fewer than 12 turnovers (Evan Miyakawa).

The crowd is expected to feature plenty of orange, giving Illinois basketball a semi-home atmosphere. I predict the Illini win by double digits.