Purdue vs. Illinois: Our Best Bet for Friday’s Big Ten Battle

As conference tourneys have begun, the bigger conferences are finishing their regular season games and some have huge implications. Tonight’s game between #18 Purdue Boilermakers and Illinois Fighting Illini should be a great battle!

This game has huge postseason implications! Purdue is looking to secure one of the top spots, while Illinois wants to prove they belong in March Madness

Both Teams Have Something to Play For

Purdue (21-9, 13-6) is riding a two-game winning streak, coming off a dominant 100-71 victory over Rutgers. Purdue, just 5-5 on the road this season, has failed to cover +4.5 in 2 straight on the road, and 3 of their last 5 games overall. In those 2 road losses they lost by 9 and 15 points and now face a hungry Illini squad.

Purdue, losers of 3 straight on the road, will have their hands full with Illinois at home. Illinois (19-11, 11-8) is also on a 2-game win streak, while building some huge confidence coming off that win at Michigan. Illinois is 12-4 at home and have covered -3.5 in 4 of their last 5 games at home.

Illini Will Be More Efficient Tonight

This will be a game of efficiency as both rank very high offensively and defensively. Illinois has the upper hand on offense as the conference’s top scoring offense, averaging over 83.6 per game (11th in nation). Illinois defense on the other hand is ranked 24th in the country at effective field goal %, forcing teams to shoot well to beat them.

If Purdue wins tonight, they secure a double bye in the Big10 tournament, but I believe Illinois can spoil that for them. Purdue has gotten the better of Illinois in recent years, but Illinois has the offensive firepower, and the lockdown defense inside the paint to take this one from Purdue and pull away late.

Best Bet:

Win 1% Illinois -3.5 (-118)