Michigan State vs Illinois Prediction, Preview & Betting Odds

Originally posted on College Football News
By Pete Fiutak | Last updated Feb 13, 2025 3:53 PM ET

These two played a blast of a battle back on January 19th with Michigan State pulling out an 80-79 win in East Lansing. Things have changed a bit for both teams.

The Spartans were rolling right along, looking and playing like the best team in the Big Ten as a possible 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament if everything kept going well, and then it all stalled. They lost three of their last four including a cold-shooting day against Indiana.

Illinois got over its stretch of four losses in seven games with wins over Minnesota and UCLA. With a road game at Wisconsin up next, followed up by a wild date with Duke in New York City, and with a road game at Michigan still to go, the Illini need this.

Michigan State vs Illinois College Basketball Preview

Michigan State vs Illinois How To Watch

Date: Saturday, February 15, 2025
Game Time: 8:00 pm ET
How To Watch: FOX
Venue: State Farm Center, Champaign, IL
Teams: Illinois (17-8), Michigan State (19-5)
Fiu Bluesky | CFN Bluesky | CFN X | CFN FB

Why Michigan State Will Win

The team needs to find its shooting mojo again.

It’s moving the ball around fine, it’s great on the glass, and only UW-Milwaukee is better in all of college basketball and generating fast break points. But MSU is the worst three point shooting team in the Big Ten. That’s fine, but everything else has to fall.

Get to 43%. The Spartans are 19-0 when making 43% or more of their shots, 0-5 when they don’t, but …

Why Illinois Will Win

Illinois is No. 1 in the Big Ten in field goal defense allowing teams to make 39.9% of their shots.

The Illini are also totally miserable at hitting the three, but they get by on bulk threes because the rebounding is so strong. Keep firing, get the board, get the second chance points, repeat.

That has to be a low scoring game. Michigan State scored fewer than 70 points in all five losses, and only one once this year - 69-62 over Ohio State - when failing to get to 70.

Michigan State vs Illinois Who Will Win?

Keep Michigan State from getting the rebound and running. The Illini have to do that, and they have to avoid the big turnovers. Fortunately for them, the Spartan defense doesn’t do a lot to take the ball away.

If it’s a high-flying scoring-fest, Michigan State wins. If it’s a low-scoring slog, the Illini pull this off. Again, the first meeting was 80-78 Spartans, but this time in Champaign ...

Michigan State vs Illinois Prediction, Betting Lines

Prediction: Illinois 72, Michigan State 69
BetMGM Line: COMING
Caesars Line: COMING
FanDuel Line: COMING
ATS Confidence out of 5: COMING

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.

This article first appeared on College Football News and was syndicated with permission.

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