Kentucky Wildcats and Illinois Fighting Illini meet in NCAA Tournament second round
Illinois Fighting Illini (22-12, 13-9 Big Ten) vs. Kentucky Wildcats (23-11, 11-9 SEC)
Milwaukee; Sunday, 5:15 p.m. EDT
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Fighting Illini -1.5; over/under is 169.5
BOTTOM LINE: No. 18 Kentucky plays Illinois in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Wildcats’ record in SEC play is 11-9, and their record is 12-2 in non-conference play. Kentucky is third in the SEC scoring 85.0 points while shooting 48.2% from the field.
The Fighting Illini’s record in Big Ten action is 13-9. Illinois is ninth in college basketball scoring 83.9 points per game while shooting 45.1%.
Kentucky averages 9.6 made 3-pointers per game, 2.9 more made shots than the 6.7 per game Illinois gives up. Illinois averages 9.4 made 3-pointers per game this season, 0.9 more makes per game than Kentucky gives up.
TOP PERFORMERS: Amari Williams is averaging 10.9 points, 8.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists for the Wildcats. Koby Brea is averaging 2.6 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
Ben Humrichous is shooting 34.3% from beyond the arc with 1.8 made 3-pointers per game for the Fighting Illini, while averaging 7.8 points. Will Riley is shooting 48.3% and averaging 14.9 points over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Wildcats: 6-4, averaging 82.1 points, 32.6 rebounds, 15.4 assists, 8.1 steals and 3.4 blocks per game while shooting 47.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 80.2 points per game.
Fighting Illini: 6-4, averaging 80.8 points, 34.3 rebounds, 15.1 assists, 3.8 steals and 3.8 blocks per game while shooting 45.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 83.1 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.