Chicago State vs Illinois Game Information

Chicago State vs Illinois Preview

No. 24 Illinois (8-3, 6-1 at Home) welcomes winless Chicago State (0-14, 0-10 on Road) to Champaign on Sunday afternoon for an intrastate Big Ten-Northeast Conference mismatch. In their last 5 games, the Cougars are 0-5 (of course), losing at St. Thomas-Minnesota by 22 (98-76), at Saint Louis by 23 (85-62), at Mercer by 13 (75-62), at Grand Canyon by 23 (74-51), and at Cal State Northridge in their last game by by 24 (81-57). In the their last 5, the Fighting Illini are 3-2, beating Arkansas by 13 (90-77), losing to rivals Northwestern in Evanston by 4 in OT (70-66), grating Wisconsin by 6 in Champaign (86-80), losing to No. 1 Tennessee at Home by 2 (66-64), and then beating Missouri by 3 in their last game (80-77). Illinois is currently priced at 50/1 to win the 2025 NCAA Basketball championship at DraftKings.

Chicago State Looks For First Win in 16 Games

Chicago State (6-8-0 ATS, 6-8-0 O/U) hasn’t won a game since defeating San Diego 9 months ago in the First Round of the CBI Tournament on March 23 (77-75), so it’s a foregone conclusion that Illinois will crunch the Cougars in Champaign here, but how bad will it be in the ultimate question for College Basketball bettors. Chicago State has already lost by 47 points at Texas (105-68), by 45 points at San Francisco (82-37), by 36 points to Indiana State (97-61), and by 21 points at Wisconsin this season, so this seems like another 40- to 50-point loss downstate. The Cougars (+7500 Moneyline) have no one in double-digits scoring-wise and are led by G Jalen Forrest (9.1 ppg), Troy McKay Jr. (8.0, 2.9 rpg), G Gabe Spinelli (6.9 ppg, 3.2 rpg) G Saxby Sunderland (6.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg), F Quincy Allen (6.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg), F Cameron Jernigan (6.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg), G Matthew Robinson (6.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg), and G Jalen Forrest (9.1 ppg). The Cougars average just 59.6 ppg (#431) while allowing 83.0 ppg (-23.4 ppg PD), 33.1 rpg (#348) and 10.1 apg (#426).

Chicago State Betting Trends

• Chicago State has lost 15 in a row SU dating back to last year
• The Cougars have played 7 straight Road games
• Chicago State is 5-2-0 ATS in its last 7 games overall
• The Cougars were 14-13-2 ATS in the 2023-24 NCAAB Season (51.9%)
• The Under is 4-0-0 in the Cougars last 4 games

Gritty Illinois Back Into the AP Top 25 Rankings

Heading in here, Illinois (5-5-1 ATS, 5-6-0 O/U) has played five very solid Power 4 conference opponents—Missouri, Arkansas, Northwestern, Wisconsin, and Tennessee—so this will be like a mini-vacation before the Fighting Illini begin the thick of Big Ten play (1-1) later in January. Illinois lost star Terrance Shannon Jr. to the NBA (Timberwolves), but they are still pretty deep and are led by G Kasparas Jakucionis (16.5 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 5.5 apg), C Tomislav Ivisic (13.9 ppg, 9.7 rpg), F Will Riley (12.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg), G Kylan Boswell (10.6 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 3.5 apg), G Tre White (8.5 ppg, 5.3rpg), F Ben Humrichous (7.8 ppg, 2.8 rpg), G Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn (5.5 ppg), and F Morez Johnson Jr. (4.7 ppg, 6.4 rpg). The Fighting Illini rank No. 41 in the Points Per Game (83.6 ppg) and are No. 3 in Rebounds Per Game (45.3) thanks to their quartet of tall boys Tomislav (7-foot-1), Jakucionis (6-foot-6), Johnson (6-foot-9), and White (6-foot-7). What can tall do for you?

Illinois Betting Trends

• Illinois is 0-3-1 ATS in its last 4 games (WIS, NW, TENN, MIZZOU
• The Fighting Illini are 7-3 SU their last 10 games overall
• Illinois ranks tied for No. 22 (AZ) in Scoring Margin (+17.9 ppg)
• Illinois is has been Favorites in 9 of its last 11 games (Underdogs vs ALA, TENN)

• The Under is 6-4-0 in the Fighting Illini’s last 10 games

Chicago State vs Illinois Prediction

The last 5 times these two have played (2008-2020), Illinois has won by 39, 47, 24, 3, and 59 points, covering the two lined games (-22, -38.5) with all 5 meetings in Champaign. Expect the Cougars (Ken Pomeroy #361 of 362 DI teams) to try to hang with the big boys for the first 10 minutes, but an eventual spurt by the hosts will quickly put this one out of reach and the Fighting Illini should be up around 48-23 at Halftime, so this is one of those games—like Prairie View vs Oklahoma and Stetson vs Florida—to consider the First Half ATS betting market. Like it did with Wisconsin, Chicago State will try to slow the pace down but Illinois (Ken Pomeroy #23) won’t be having any of it and will dominate on the glass. This Chicago State vs Illinois NCAAB pick will look for a 45- to 48-point triumph in Champaign as the Fighting Illini (12-0 SU vs CSU at Home) improve to 14-0 lifetime vs Chicago State. Illinois is averaging 89 ppg in this series with its biggest win coming by 69 back points in December of 1993 (121-52). I stretched back and I hiccupped, and looked back on my busy day. Eleven hours in the tin pan, God, there’s got to be another way.

Kevin’s Pick: Illinois -39.5