Who’s Playing
Northwestern Wildcats @ Illinois Fighting Illini
Current Records: Northwestern 12-7, Illinois 13-6
How To Watch
- When: Sunday, January 26, 2025 at 3 p.m. ET
- Where: State Farm Center — Champaign, Illinois
- TV: Big Ten Network
- Follow: CBS Sports App
- Online Streaming: Catch select College Basketball matches on Fubo (Try for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)
What to Know
We’ve got another exciting Big Ten matchup on schedule as the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Northwestern Wildcats are set to tip at 3:00 p.m. ET on Sunday at State Farm Center. The Fighting Illini are strutting in with some offensive muscle as they’ve averaged 85.9 points per game this season.
Illinois is headed into Sunday’s matchup hungry for a win as their strong season has now been derailed by two straight losses. They suffered a bruising 91-70 defeat at the hands of Maryland on Thursday. The contest was up for grabs at halftime, but sadly the Fighting Illini were thoroughly outmatched 53-35 in the second half.
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the best came from Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn, who went 5 for 8 en route to 15 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Kasparas Jakucionis, who posted 21 points plus seven assists and seven rebounds.
Northwestern’s found some homefield redemption this week after a tough overtime loss to Michigan on Wednesday. Northwestern came out on top against Indiana by a score of 79-70.
Northwestern’s success was spearheaded by the efforts of Brooks Barnhizer, who went 8 for 14 en route to 21 points plus eight rebounds and six assists, and Ty Berry, who went 7 for 10 from beyond the arc en route to 23 points plus seven rebounds and two blocks. The match was Barnhizer’s third in a row with at least 22.4 points. Another player making a difference was Nick Martinelli, who went 7 for 11 en route to 18 points plus six rebounds.
Illinois’ loss dropped their record down to 13-6. As for Northwestern, their victory bumped their record up to 12-7.
Illinois came up short against Northwestern when the teams last played back in December of 2024, falling 70-66. Will Illinois have more luck at home instead of on the road?
Series History
Illinois has won 7 out of their last 10 games against Northwestern.
- Dec 06, 2024 – Northwestern 70 vs. Illinois 66
- Jan 24, 2024 – Northwestern 96 vs. Illinois 91
- Jan 02, 2024 – Illinois 96 vs. Northwestern 66
- Feb 23, 2023 – Illinois 66 vs. Northwestern 62
- Jan 04, 2023 – Northwestern 73 vs. Illinois 60
- Feb 13, 2022 – Illinois 73 vs. Northwestern 66
- Jan 29, 2022 – Illinois 59 vs. Northwestern 56
- Feb 16, 2021 – Illinois 73 vs. Northwestern 66
- Jan 07, 2021 – Illinois 81 vs. Northwestern 56
- Feb 27, 2020 – Illinois 74 vs. Northwestern 66
