Penn State vs Illinois Odds & Predictions (Dec. 10)
By George Nassios in College Basketball
Published:
- It’s a Big Ten matinee between Penn State and Illinois on Saturday, December 10th
- Illinois has won four straight against the Nittany Lions heading into this matchup
- More Penn State vs Illinois odds can be found below, plus our pick and prediction
Two teams looking for their first conference win of the season hook up on Saturday, December 10th when the Illinois Fighting Illini (7-2, 6-3 ATS) host Penn State (6-3, 5-3-1 ATS) at the State Farm Center. Tip off goes at noon ET for this matchup.
Currently ranked 17th in the nation, Illinois are 9-point favorites in the college basketball odds for this contest. They’re coming off a huge 85-78 win over number two Texas on Tuesday.
Below, we give you the Penn State vs Illinois odds for this clash. We’ll also analyze this game before offering you our best bet and prediction.
Penn State vs Illinois Odds
| Team | Spread | Moneyline | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Penn State Nittany Lions | +9 (-110) | +360 | O 140 (-110) |
| Illinois Fighting Illini | -9 (-110) | -450 | U 140 (-110) |
Odds as of December 9th at DraftKings Sportsbook.
Nobody would dare call them pushovers, but Penn State is without a doubt one of the easiest opponents Illinois will have faced over a three-week span. With moneyline odds of -450, the Fighting Illini have an implied win probability of 81.82 % to handle Penn State in this game.
Penn State Hitting Under Often
The Nittany Lions seemed a little rusty in their last contest, a 67-58 loss to Michigan State, where they shot just 34.5% from the field. Perhaps they can lean on the fact that was their first game in over a week for the poor shooting performance.
Final. pic.twitter.com/S1pT7Fr5Sx
— Penn State Men’s Basketball (@PennStateMBB) December 8, 2022
Regardless, the Nittany Lions have been involved in a number of low scoring contests this year, especially of late. Of their last seven games, they’ve combined with their opponent to go under the betting line in the six times, and the only time they went over was in an overtime loss to Clemson.
In the college basketball odds for this matchup, the total has been set at 140 points. Penn State have kept their opponents from hitting 70+ points in eight of nine games this year, but the Fighting Illini will be a different beast come Saturday.
Illinois Taking on Top Opponents
It’s been a run of games against stiff competition for the Fighting Illini lately, having played Texas, Maryland, Syracuse, Virginia and UCLA in five of their last six. That’s two of the top three ranked teams in the nation and four teams in the top 25.
They’re not messing around with their out-of-conference schedule and are probably looking forward to a meeting with a Penn State side they’ve owned recently.
Penn State vs Illinois Recent Results
| Date | Home-Away | Spread | Over/Under |
|---|---|---|---|
| 03/03/2022 | ILL 60 – PSU 55 | PSU | Under |
| 01/19/2021 | ILL 79 – PSU 65 | ILL | Under |
| 12/23/2020 | PSU 81 – ILL 98 | ILL | Over |
| 02/18/2020 | PSU 56 – ILL 62 | ILL | Under |
| 03/10/2019 | PSU 72 – ILL 56 | PSU | Under |
The Fighting Illini have taken each of the last four games between these two and as favorites, they’ve covered the spread in each of those games.
Coming off perhaps their biggest win of the season, Illinois should have some momentum heading into this one. They just handed Texas its first loss of the season, 85-78 Tuesday night in the Jimmy V Classic.
Terrence Shannon Jr. was sensational in overtime, scoring 12 of his 16 points in the extra session, including the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 3:34 remaining. Clutch performances like that will have him climbing the leaderboard in the odds to win the college basketball player of the year.
Terrence Shannon Jr. took over in the second half and OT to lead Illinois to a huge win over Texas at MSG 🔥 @Sn1per_T pic.twitter.com/OiL1Se8r9L
— B/R Hoops (@brhoops) December 7, 2022
Penn State vs Illinois Pick & Prediction
What we have here is a matchup between two teams with different expectations for this season. For Penn State, earning a berth in the Big Dance in March would be a big achievement.
On the other hand, having beaten some of the best college basketball programs already this season, Illinois has its sights set on being one of the teams to watch out for in the odds to win March Madness.
We don’t feel this is a case of if Illinois will win this game, but by how much? The juice is worth the squeeze in the Penn State vs Illinois odds, so our prediction is to take the favorites and the points.
Pick: Illinois Fighting Illini -9 (+110)
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Sports Writer
George has had a lifelong love affair with sports and studying sports statistics since he was a kid. He graduated from Ryerson University with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism and has worked in the sports & media industry ever since in various roles from writer to producer.
