Bostic and Illinois host Northwestern

Published Jan. 23, 2025 3:42 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Illinois Fighting Illini (13-5, 3-4 Big Ten) at Northwestern Wildcats (7-10, 0-6 Big Ten)

Evanston, Illinois; Thursday, 8 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Illinois faces Northwestern after Kendall Bostic scored 20 points in Illinois' 86-68 loss to the Michigan State Spartans.

The Wildcats have gone 5-7 at home. Northwestern has a 3-0 record in games decided by 3 points or fewer.

The Fighting Illini are 3-4 against Big Ten opponents. Illinois scores 71.7 points while outscoring opponents by 11.1 points per game.

Northwestern scores 67.3 points, 6.7 more per game than the 60.6 Illinois allows. Illinois has shot at a 43.6% clip from the field this season, 3.5 percentage points greater than the 40.1% shooting opponents of Northwestern have averaged.

The Wildcats and Fighting Illini match up Thursday for the first time in Big Ten play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Casey Harter averages 1.2 made 3-pointers per game for the Wildcats, scoring 7.0 points while shooting 41.2% from beyond the arc. Caileigh Walsh is shooting 43.7% and averaging 12.7 points over the past 10 games.

Bostic is averaging 16.2 points and 11.2 rebounds for the Fighting Illini. Genesis Bryant is averaging 17.0 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Wildcats: 3-7, averaging 67.4 points, 32.0 rebounds, 18.9 assists, 5.1 steals and 4.2 blocks per game while shooting 44.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 74.9 points per game.

Fighting Illini: 6-4, averaging 68.4 points, 32.3 rebounds, 13.1 assists, 5.5 steals and 2.3 blocks per game while shooting 42.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 65.0 points.

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