Northwestern vs Illinois Odds, Lines, and Spread (Feb. 13)

• Northwestern (12-10, 5-8 Big Ten) takes on No. 13 Illinois (17-6, 10-3 Big Ten) Sunday, February 13th at 2:00 pm ET in Champaign
• The Wildcats took down an undermanned Indiana team at home on Tuesday, while the Fighting Illini lost to Purdue in West Lafayette
• See the current UNC Wilmington vs Hofstra odds, point spread, and game total, plus predictions

The Northwestern Wildcats (12-10, 5-8 Big Ten) — who have won three straight — take on No. 13 Illinois Fighting Illini (17-6, 10-3 Big Ten) in college basketball on Sunday at the State Farm Center. Tip off is at 2:00 pm ET on Big Ten Network.

Northwestern vs Illinois Odds

Odds as of February 12th, 2022 at FanDuel

Illinois is a 9.5-point favorite over Northwestern, while the total is 139. The -530 moneyline price for the Illini amounts to a 84.1% implied win probability, while Northwestern’s +390 odds to win is equal to 20.4% implied probability.

Chris Collins’ team overcame a 32% shooting night from the field while committing just six turnovers in the eight-point victory over the Hoosiers. Junior guard — and the team’s leading scorer — Boo Buie had a game-high 18 points in the win, while Chase Audige scored eight of his 12 points in the second half as Northwestern scored 14 second-chance points off 16 offensive rebounds.

Meantime, Brad Underwood saw his club’s four-game win streak win snapped in the 16-point defeat to the Boilermakers. Kofi Cockburn had 18 points and seven rebounds in the loss, while Andre Curbelo added 15 points.

Illinois Has Dominated Northwestern in Recent H2H History

The Illini has knocked off the Wildcats in seven straight meetings. But, as is usually the case with Northwestern, all but one of those decisions were by single-digits. Fortunately for Collins’ squad, Northwestern was on the right side of a close game against IU.  The head coach saw his team limit Indiana to just 51 points, the lowest total any Northwestern opponent has scored in Big Ten play this season.

🎬 𝙈𝘼𝙆𝙀 𝙄𝙏 𝙏𝙃𝙍𝙀𝙀 𝙄𝙉 𝘼 𝙍𝙊𝙒 🎬#GoCats | @NU_Sports pic.twitter.com/UApCwmMko7

— Northwestern Basketball (@NUMensBball) February 11, 2022

One of the stars for Northwestern on Tuesday was junior guard Audige. In addition to his 12 points, he grabbed six rebounds and had a pair of steals. His 1.8 rips per game rank third in the conference and help keep the Wildcats in most of their games.

After losing eight of nine, the Wildcats have won three in a row. One of the losses during that rough stretch was a 59-56 defeat in Evanston to the Illini two weeks ago. That contest marked the return of Cockburn after missing the previous two games due to a concussion. The 7-foot-1 post scored 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds.

Illinois is 2-5 ATS in Last Seven

Despite winning 10 of its last 13 games straight up, Illinois has gone 2-5 against the spread in its last seven. That includes a straight up defeat earlier this week against the Boilermakers, who swept the Illni in the season series.

Senior guard Trent Frazier gave Underwood a scare when he fell to the floor clutching his left knee midway through the second half. He needed help to reach the bench, though he returned a short time later and finished the game. He should be good to go Sunday.

Cockburn’s 21.6 points per game is second in the Big Ten. He leads a quartet of players — including Alfonso Plummer (15.2 ppg), Frazier (12.8 ppg) and Jacob Grandison (10.5 ppg) — who are averaging double-digits. This is a well-balanced team in the top-25 in offensive adjusted efficiency (20th) and defensive adjusted efficiency (23rd). The Illini can score when they need to — and put the clamps down defensively as well.

Northwestern vs Illinois Prediction

The Wildcats are 4-1 against the spread in their last five — including that three-point loss to the Illini on Jan. 29.

But with Illinois coming off the Purdue loss and playing in front of what should be a raucous State Farm Center and trying maintain its position atop the conference standings, this should be a victory — and a cover — against Northwestern.

Pick: Illinois -9.5 (-114)