Indiana Hoosiers vs. Illinois Illini: game preview, TV times, odds, stats and more

Game Info / How to Watch:

Who? #25 Indiana Hoosiers (10-5, #29 KenPom) vs. Illinois Illini (11-4, #69 KenPom)

When? Saturday, January 7th, 5:00 PM, ESPNU

Where? Assembly Hall, Bloomington, Indiana

Vegas? INDIANA -9

Pomeroy? Indiana by 10, 80% chance of Indiana victory

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The Twelve Days of Christmas were about as unkind to Indiana Athletics as that two weeks can be. It delivered a three game losing streak to the basketball team, that began with a home loss to #82 Nebraska and a heartbreaking bowl defeat to the football team. The panic button has been (deservedly) slammed among the Hoosier faithful as the bad results pile up and their chances at a second-consecutive Big Ten title get slimmer and slimmer. In fact, if Wisconsin can go into Mackey Arena and win on Sunday (far easier said than done), the Badgers would become awfully difficult to dislodge out of the top of the table. They would only have one more game against a Top-30 opponent and it's at home against #29 Indiana, who could very well be far lower than that by then.

Or- far higher!

I'll maintain (for at least one more game) that Indiana is a far better team than they've shown the past couple of weeks. They're completely broken right now, but losing to Louisville and Wisconsin aren't particularly alarming things taken separately, combine them with a loss to Nebraska and you, understandably, get the reaction we're seeing and feeling now. Indiana didn't get run out of their own building by the Badgers, after showing up late they settled in and went back and forth with the #10 KenPom team.

Granted, Indiana shouldn't be dropping home games to anyone, and to drop two straight is nearly unheard of. So how likely would a cataclysmic third straight home, conference loss be?

HERE WOULD YOU LIKE SOME FACTORS?

Illinois is in Year 5 of John Groce, the second-most famous alumnus from Danville (IN) High School and things aren't great! After making the NCAA Tournament in Year 1 the Illini haven't been back since and their KenPom ranked dropped each year before cratering last season at 125 after injuries decimated the roster. They're better this season but probably still headed for the wrong side of the NCAA Tournament bubble. They're coming off their best win of the season, a victory over #48 Ohio State in Champaign.

Tracy Abrams is, at last, healthy after missing the last two years with consecutive off-season tears of his ACL and Achilles. He's been a bright spot as well, second on the team in offensive rating and hitting 45.6% of his threes with good assist and steal numbers as well. It's difficult not root for him to do well in his last season after all he's been through.

Leading the Illini, however, is Malcolm Hill and the campaign he's putting together would probably garner some B1G Player of the Year attention if he can guide Illinois into the upper half of the conference. The 6-6 senior is using the most possessions and taking the most shots of anyone on the roster and shooting 53.9% eFG, dishing out more assists than turnovers, and drawing a ton of fouls (and hitting 78.6% of his freebies). He's certainly the toughest cover on this Illinois squad, and it's hard to see Illinois being victorious in Bloomington without a monster game from him, at least.

Talented sophomore and INDIANA KID Jalen Coleman-Lands returns to Assembly Hall and has regressed a bit from his promising freshman campaign. After hitting 42.2% of his threes last season, he's down to 31.5% this year and turning the ball over quite a bit more. You don't need me to tell you that a breakout game in front of the Indiana fanbase would not only be unsurprising, but essentially expected.