The Big Ten’s Illinois Fighting Illini will head to the Great Northwest this Saturday night to square off against the Pac-12’s Oregon Ducks, who come in ranked No. 15 in the country. Tip-off from the Moda Center is set for 9 p.m. (ET), and the game will be broadcast nationally ESPN2.

Illinois is off to an impressive 9-1 straight up start with its only setback being a 67-64 loss to Georgia Tech on Dec. 3 as a two-point road underdog. It is 4-3-2 against the spread, and the total has stayed “under” in five of eight games with a posted line.

The Ducks bring a perfect 8-0 SU mark into this matchup after coming out on top in a wild 115-105 overtime victory against Mississippi this past Sunday. They covered as three-point underdogs on the road to improve to a highly profitable 7-0 ATS. The total has gone “over” in all six of their games that had a posted line.

Illinois at Oregon Betting Storylines

If the Fighting Illini are going to get a win on the road, they will need another huge effort from Rayvonte Rice, who is the team’s biggest scoring threat with 17.9 points a game while shooting 51.2 percent from the field. This number drops off to just 32.7 percent from three-point range, but he is hitting 78.6 percent of his attempts from the foul line. Tracy Adams and Joseph Bertrand are also scoring in double-figures with an average of 11 points a game.

Illinois, as a whole, is shooting 45 percent from the floor and 34.2 percent from beyond the arc. The Illini have converted on 71 percent of their opportunities from the foul line, and they are pulling down an average of 38.3 rebounds a game. Defensively they have done an excellent job keeping opposing teams in check by not allowing more than 67 points in any of their first 10 games.

The Ducks come into Saturday night’s contest ranked second in the nation in scoring with an average of 91.4 points a game, They have backed this up by shooting an impressive 52.9 percent from the floor, which is the fifth-highest field goal percentage among all Division I teams. The only real weakness is under the boards with an average of 36.3 rebounds a game, but that has pretty much been negated so far by their ability to effectively shoot the ball.

This team boasts six different players scoring in double-figures led by Joseph Young. He is averaging 20.1 points a game while shooting 53.9 percent from the field and a deadly 48.6 percent from three-point range. This team has a number of sharp-shooters from long range with a 43.8 conversion rate from beyond the perimeter. Mike Moser is second on the team in scoring with 15 points and first in rebounds with 7.4 a game.

Illinois at Oregon College Basketball Betting Tends and Game Lines

BetOnline has opened the Ducks as 6.5-point home favorites for Saturday night’s game, with the total still OFF the board.

The Fighting Illini are 1-3-1 ATS in their last five nonconference games and 0-3-1 ATS in their last four games following a SU win. The total has gone over in four of their last five games against a team from the Pac-12.

The Ducks are 18-5 ATS in their last 23 games outside the conference and 12-3-1 ATS in their last 16 games following a SU win. The total has gone over in their last eight nonconference games.

These two have met twice before back in the early 2000s, with Illinois winning both contests SU (1-0-1 ATS). The total in those two contests was evenly split.

Free College Basketball Picks: Illinois at Oregon Betting Predictions

This game will be a test of wills between Illinois’s defense and the Ducks’ ability to light things up on the scoreboard. While it will be extremely hard for the Fighting Illini to steal a win on the road, I do like their ability to keep Oregon’s shooters in check just enough to cover with the 6.5 points.

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