The Illinois Fighting Illini welcome the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to State Farm Center. Action starts at 9:15 pm ET on Wednesday, Dec. 2 and will air on ES2 and ES3.
The Fighting Illini are hoping to rebound after their 84-73 loss to Iowa State on Saturday. Malcolm Hill was the team’s high scorer, contributing 20 points. The Fighting Irish are coming off a close 74-73 loss to Alabama on Sunday. Steve Vasturia led the team in scoring with 18 points.
Illinois is a small underdog, with Notre Dame favored by two. The Over/Under (O/U) is 143 points. The Fighting Illini enter the game with records of 3-4 Straight Up (SU) and 3-2 Against The Spread (ATS).
Over on the other bench, the Fighting Irish head into the game with records of 1-3 ATS and 4-2 SU. When it comes to making good decisions with the ball, not many are better than the Fighting Irish. They have one of the top assist-to-turnover ratios in the country at 1.48.
This game will be the first meeting for Illinois and Notre Dame in recent seasons.
Predictions: SU Winner – ND, ATS Winner – ND, O/U – Over
Notes
Illinois is 3-7 SU in its last 10 games.
Illinois is 17-8 SU in its last 25 games at home.
Illinois scores just 77.5 points per home game (ranked 196th). Notre Dame ranks 62nd in points allowed on the road, giving up 66.0 points.
Ranked 30th, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish have an offensive rating of 119.2. The Illinois Fighting Illini rank 270th with a defensive rating of just 108.0.
The Illinois Fighting Illini average a field goal percentage of 45.5% this season. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have split their games this season (1-1) when opponents have a FG% of 45.5% or greater.
The Illinois Fighting Illini rank higher based on their field goal percentage (128th) than their effective field goal percentage (134th). The Notre Dame Fighting Irish rank higher based on their effective field goal percentage (82nd) than their field goal percentage (102nd).
Illinois ranks 98th in the nation with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.23, while Notre Dame ranks 33rd with an A/TO of 1.48.
Notre Dame has forced an average turnover percentage of 16.4% this season. Illinois has a losing 1-2 record when its TO% is 16.4% or higher.
