Wisconsin vs. Illinois Prediction and Odds (Trust Kofi Cockburn in His Home Return)

So, you like Big10 basketball? Me too. No. 11 Wisonsin will travel to No. 18 Illinois for a battle atop the conference. These two teams are each well-entrenched in the top-25 college basketball rankings and are jockeying for position within their own conference with March Madness seeding on the horizon. 

Let’s start with the odds via WynnBET.

Wisconsin vs. Illinois Odds, Spread and Total

Spread:

• Wisconsin +7.0 (-115)
• Illinois -7.0 (-105)

Moneyline:

• Wisconsin +230
• Illinois -290

Total:

• 137.5 (Over -115 | Under -105)

Wisconsin vs. Illinois Prediction and Pick

This game features a pair of conference superstars. Wisconsin is led by Johnny Davis, who literally does everything for them. He leads the team in scoring (21.4), rebounds (7.9), assists (2.4) and steals (1.3) per game. Being a guard that leads your team in rebounding sure is impressive.

Illinois doesn’t rely on a guard for that. The Fighting Illini have center Kofi Cockburn, who made his return on Saturday from a concussion that kept him sidelined for two weeks. He picked up right where he left off, posting 22 points, nine rebounds, an assist and a block in his return to action. Those line up with his season averages of 21.1 points, 11.6 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 1.0 block per game. 

Going against Cockburn will be the biggest issue for Wisconsin, who relies on its guard play. Cockburn puts up over 20 points per game while commanding the glass, and Wisconsin allows opposing teams to convert at a 48.6% clip on two-point shooting, which ranks 137th.

Wisconsin is even worse at defending the 3, ranking 206th in opponent 3-point percentage, and while Illinois features their center, it gets plenty of production from beyond the arc. Illinois averages 9.5 3-balls made per game, which ranks 21st.

At first glance, I thought the spread was a bit larger than it should be. After diving into it and looking at how Illinois can exploit Wisconsin’s weaknesses, I’ll take Illinois to cover at home.

Pick: Illinois -7.0 (-105)

You can find all of Jon Helmkamp’s picks here.