Soild Plays for Today

Northwestern vs. Illinois - January 17, 2013 - 8:15 PM

Pick: Your pick will be graded at bookmaker @ -10 -110 Illinois

Expert: Ben Burns

Evaluation: January 17, 2013 - 8:15 PM

Reason For Pick:

I'm playing on ILLINOIS. With the Illini off back-to-back losses, I believe that the Wildcats are in the wrong place at the wrong time.

After his team's last game, Illinois coach John Groce had this to say: "Wisconsin's competitive spirit was better than ours to start the game. That is unacceptable. That is not what we're about. I'm going to evaluate every guy, starting with competitive, physical, mental toughness type plays. Everything's open at this point."

The Illini players are taking responsibility too. Senior guard D.J. Richardson noted: "Not to compete: it's the seniors' fault, it's the captains' fault. We've got to execute when we're out there on the court.''

After going cold from beyond the arc the last couple of games, the Illini should return to the form that has them ranked among the nation's leaders in terms of 3-point shots made per game.

Not that the Illini should need any added motivation, but they were beaten by the Wildcats here last season - after dominating them here for years. They're catching them at the right time to get some payback.

The Wildcats have dropped three of five and were blown out 70-50 last time out. They're 1-3 SU/ATS the last four time that they were listed as road underdogs in the 9.5 to 12 range.

Northwestern coach Bill Carmody noted: "There's so much pressure on your defense to make stops, but then you can't score at the other end. We are having a hard time figuring out who is going to score."

I don't expect things to get any easier for Carmody's crew here. I expect the Illini to come out "on a mission" and look for them to keep the pedal to the metal the entire way. *9 annihilator