Illinois Fighting Illini play the Xavier Musketeers in first round of NCAA Tournament

Published Mar. 21, 2025 3:43 a.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

Xavier Musketeers (22-11, 13-8 Big East) vs. Illinois Fighting Illini (21-12, 13-9 Big Ten)

Milwaukee; Friday, 9:45 p.m. EDT

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Fighting Illini -3.5; over/under is 160.5

BOTTOM LINE: Illinois and Xavier meet in the NCAA Tournament opening round.

The Fighting Illini's record in Big Ten play is 13-9, and their record is 8-3 against non-conference opponents. Illinois leads the Big Ten with 83.8 points and is shooting 45.0%.

The Musketeers are 13-8 against Big East teams. Xavier ranks second in the Big East shooting 39.1% from 3-point range.

Illinois is shooting 45.0% from the field this season, 0.5 percentage points higher than the 44.5% Xavier allows to opponents. Xavier averages 8.4 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.8 more made shots on average than the 6.6 per game Illinois gives up.

TOP PERFORMERS: Kasparas Jakucionis is averaging 15 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.6 assists for the Fighting Illini. Will Riley is averaging 15.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists over the last 10 games.

Zach Freemantle is shooting 52.4% and averaging 17.2 points for the Musketeers. Ryan Conwell is averaging 18.1 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Fighting Illini: 6-4, averaging 81.7 points, 33.8 rebounds, 15.8 assists, 3.7 steals and 3.9 blocks per game while shooting 46.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 83.2 points per game.

Musketeers: 8-2, averaging 81.6 points, 30.0 rebounds, 17.9 assists, 8.0 steals and 1.9 blocks per game while shooting 50.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73.5 points.

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

share

in this topic

College Basketball

Xavier Musketeers

Illinois Fighting Illini

Kasparas Jakucionis

Will Riley

Big Ten

Big East