The Illinois Fighting Illini take on the Washington Huskies in Seattle, WA. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network.
Illinois is favored by 8 points on the spread with a moneyline of -325. The total is set at 155 points.
Here are my Illinois vs. Washington predictions and college basketball picks for January 5, 2025.
Illinois vs Washington Prediction
My Pick: Illinois -7.5 (Play to -8.5)
My Illinois vs Washington best bet is on Illinois spread, with the best odds currently available at BetMGM. For all of your college basketball bets, be sure to find the best lines by using our live NCAAB odds page.
Illinois vs Washington Odds
| Illinois Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-8 -108 | 155 -112 / -108 | -325 |
| Washington Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+8 -112 | 155 -112 / -108 | +260 |
- Illinois vs Washington spread: Illinois -8
- Illinois vs Washington over/under: 155 points
- Illinois vs Washington moneyline: Illinois -325, Washington +260
- Illinois vs Washington best bet: Illinois -7.5 (Play to -8.5)
Spread
I'm taking the Illini on the spread.
Moneyline
I'm avoiding the moneyline.
Over/Under
I'm avoiding the total.
My Pick: Illinois -7.5 (Play to -8.5)
Illinois vs Washington College Basketball Betting Preview
Illinois and Washington come into this one riding high off huge Thursday wins.
The Illini made a statement by 30-balling Oregon, driving a 10-spot jump in their KenPom ranking and vaulting them into the top 10 in the country, per the analytical guru’s site.
Washington scored its biggest win of the season against Maryland, a huge result that will hopefully spark a resurgence after a rough non-conference.
This Illinois is teetering on “scary good” level, especially given how young it is. Kasparas Jakucionis, the freshman point guard leader, has been excellent. Fellow freshman Will Riley has been a fireball, junior guard Kylan Boswell has experienced a career renaissance as a basket attacker and sophomore Tomislav Ivisic has been as impactful as advertised after arriving overseas.
The eye test would say the Illini are on a whole different level than the Huskies, who have looked horrid at times – especially offensively – and discombobulated.
Illinois should find scoring avenues against Washington’s defense, a unit that's undergone plenty of lapses this season against good competition.
The Huskies take away the 3 at a high level, but how will that change with a five-man who can shoot like Ivisic? Wilhelm Breidenbach isn't the fleetest of foot, and Great Osobor will likely be forced to guard elsewhere.
Any zone the Huskies implement will be susceptible to outside looks from good Illini shooters and leave the glass open for second chances.
It’s also unclear if Washington has any answer for the 6-foot-6 Jakucionis, who can create his own shot out of nothing, or if the Huskies can stay in front of Boswell, who's been immense at earning trips to the charity stripe.
Washington has been just average at stopping ball screens, Illinois’ primary bread and butter in the half-court.
On the other end, stopping Washington means stopping Osobor, through whom the Huskies run all their offense. Osobor will often bring the ball up and be the primary facilitator and primary shot-taker.
The Illini can throw Ivisic or Morez Johnson Jr. on Osobor and force him to be more of a shooter, or they can try to disrupt him with a smaller – but more athletic – Tre White. Either way, Illinois’ entire game plan should revolve around stopping Osobor.
Scoring inside against the Illini has been impossible, as they rank 12th nationally in 2-point field goal percentage defense. Washington lacks any semblance of shooting, ranking 300th in 3-point attempt rate and 228th in 3-point percentage, so being unable to score inside – or get to the foul line – is a huge problem.
And though Illinois is due for some major free throw shooting luck regression (opponents are shooting just 65% against it from the stripe, the sixth-worst in America, which is a completely unsustainable number), Washington isn’t likely to move the needle.
The Huskies are one of the worst free throw shooting teams in the country, and Osobor is just 56% on the season.
Illinois will be laying a ton of points on Sunday, but it’s warranted. The Illini are the categorically better team and should waltz out of Alaska Airlines Arena with a big W in hand.
