Illinois Fighting Illini (27-8, 17-6 Big Ten) vs. Duquesne Dukes (25-11, 14-8 A-10) at Omaha, Nebraska, Saturday, 8:40 p.m. EDT, LINE: Illini vs. Fighting; the total is 148.
FINAL LINE: Position No. 10. In the second round of the NCAA Tournament, Illinois and Duquesne will face off.
The Fighting Illini are 10-2 in non-conference play and 17-6 against Big Ten opponents. With an average of 41.2 rebounds per game, Illinois leads the Big Ten, followed by Quincy Guerrier’s 6.2 average. The Dukes have a 14-8 record in A-10 play. Fauseyni Drame leads Duquesne with an average of 1.7 offensive rebounds per game, which puts them third in the A-10. Illinois makes 8.4 3-pointers on average per game, which is 1.8 more than the 6.6 that Duquesne surrenders. Duquesne scores 2.9 less points per game on average than Illinois’s opponents (73.7) do.
TOP PERFORMERS: For the Fighting Illini, Marcus Domask averages 15.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 3.9 assists.For the past ten games, Jimmy Clark III has averaged 15 points, 3.8 assists, and 2.4 steals for the Dukes, while Terrence Shannon Jr. has averaged 26.3 points.Over the previous ten games, Dae Dae Grant is shooting 40.3% and averaging 15.3 points and 3.1 rebounds.
Fighting Illini have won 8 out of the last 10 games, averaging 87.7 points, 38.8 rebounds, 14.0 assists, and 3.7
steals, 3.3 blocks, and a 49.5% field goal percentage per game. Dukes: 9-1, averaging 68.3 points, 33.3 rebounds, 13.5 assists, 8.2 steals, and 4.2 blocks per game while shooting 44.0% from the field, have been their opponents’ average scorers with 81.0 points per game. 62.5 points is the average for their opponents..