Little Rock vs Illinois prediction, odds, pick for College Basketball

It’s time to continue our College Basketball odds series with a Little Rock-Illinois prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Little Rock-Illinois.

The Monday slate in college basketball has some major Feast Week attractions such as the North Carolina Tar Heels playing in the Maui Invitational, but this is one of the more off-the-radar games. Feast Week is stuffed with neutral-site tournaments and events, but this is a cupcake home game on campus for Illinois.

The Fighting Illini are licking their wounds after losing decisively to Alabama last week. The Illini defense was torched for 100 points, a sobering moment in the early stages of the season. That game was a true road game (not a neutral-site game), so the Illini knew they were going into the belly of a very angry beast. Keep in mind that Alabama had just lost its own road game at Purdue. Illinois had the misfortune of being Alabama’s bounce-back game. It was a contest which really did not set up well for Illinois, and the Illini got clobbered by a 13-point margin. (Alabama covered as an 8.5-point favorite.)

The bad news is that Illinois lost. The good news is that when a team gets thumped by a Final Four contender early in the season, it can lead to a lot of education for players and coaches, enabling improvement and development to occur at a rapid pace. Alabama might have taught Illinois the kinds of lessons the Illini roster could not have learned anywhere else. The hope for Illinois coach Brad Underwood is that the Alabama defeat accelerates the learning curve for his team and makes Illinois that much better in a range of different circumstances. In this game versus Little Rock, Illinois needs to show that it can play shutdown defense and make real, meaningful advancements at that end of the floor.

Here are the Little Rock-Illinois College Basketball Odds, courtesy of FanDuel 

College Basketball Odds: Little Rock-Illinois Odds

Little Rock: +20.5 (-104)

Moneyline: +1600

Illinois: -20.5 (-118)

Moneyline: -4500

Over: 152.5 (-105)

Under: 152.5 (-115)

How to Watch Little Rock vs Illinois

Time: 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT

TV: Big Ten Network

Stream: fuboTV (Free Trial)

Why Little Rock Will Cover The Spread/Win

Illinois does not have a good defense. We can note that Alabama and Little Rock are hardly the same opponent in terms of overall quality and skill, but it remains that Illinois was very loose on defense versus Alabama. The question isn’t whether Illinois will improve on defense over the course of the season; it should. The question is if Illinois can improve quickly enough on defense to bring a strong effort to the court in this game. It might take more time for Illinois to truly find itself on defense and establish a comfort zone at that end of the floor. Little Rock might give up 100 points to Illinois in this game, but as long as it scores at least 80, it can still cover.

Why Illinois Will Cover The Spread/Win

The loss to Alabama will wake up this team and get the Illini to play much better defense. The offense, which scored 87 against Bama, should be fine versus Little Rock. Illinois should be able to score at least 90 in this game if not 95. The key is to hold Little Rock under 70. We think Illinois will do that.

Final Little Rock-Illinois Prediction & Pick

We are leaning to Little Rock, but Illinois could play a very strong game at home. You should stay away from this game.

Final Little Rock-Illinois Prediction & Pick: Little Rock +20.5