For the first time since 1983, the Kentucky Wildcats will play the Illinois Fighting Illini on Sunday, March 23. No. 6 Illinois vs. No. 3 Kentucky will occur at 2:40 p.m., and a Sweet Sixteen opportunity is on the line. Illinois has won five of their previous six games and beat No. 11 Xavier 86-73 in the round of 64. Kentucky has won four of their last five games and dominated No. 14 Troy in the first round. Here is my favorite pick for Saturday’s matchup between Kentucky vs. Illinois.
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Kentucky vs. Illinois (5:15 p.m. ET)
Will Riley and Tomislav Ivisic each scored at least 20 points against Xavier. Illinois guard Kylan Boswell also had a great game, totaling 15 points and five rebounds on 5-8 shooting from the field. When Illinois’ starting five plays this well as a group, they will have a chance against most teams in the country. Even though Kentucky is the No. 3 seed in this matchup, Illinois is the favorite at -1.5 on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Otega Oweh has stepped up for Kentucky lately, scoring 20-plus points seven times in the previous 10 games. He is their best scorer but has been inconsistent at times this season. In the Quarterfinal of the SEC tournament against Alabama, Oweh only scored eight points. Oweh, along with Jaxson Robinson, must have elite games for the Wildcats to win this contest.
Although Kentucky has six players averaging double-digit points this season, multiple players have scored under 10 points recently. Even with Illinois being the lower seed, they are the hotter team right now and seem to be playing their best basketball of the season.
College Basketball Pick: Illinois -1.5
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