Illinois Fighting Illini and Morehead State Eagles meet in the first round of NCAA Tournament

Wed, Mar 20, 2024
NCAAB News (AP)

Morehead State Eagles (26-8, 17-4 OVC) vs. Illinois Fighting Illini (26-8, 17-6 Big Ten)

Omaha, Nebraska; Thursday, 3:10 p.m. EDT

FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Fighting Illini -11.5; over/under is 148

BOTTOM LINE: No. 10 Illinois and Morehead State square off in the NCAA Tournament first round.

The Fighting Illini's record in Big Ten games is 17-6, and their record is 9-2 in non-conference games. Illinois is eighth in college basketball averaging 84.4 points and is shooting 47.1% from the field.

The Eagles' record in OVC action is 17-4. Morehead State leads the OVC with 14.9 assists. Drew Thelwell leads the Eagles with 6.2.

Illinois makes 47.1% of its shots from the field this season, which is 8.2 percentage points higher than Morehead State has allowed to its opponents (38.9%). Morehead State averages 75.5 points per game, 1.7 more than the 73.8 Illinois allows.

TOP PERFORMERS: Terrence Shannon Jr. is shooting 47.0% and averaging 23.0 points for the Fighting Illini. Quincy Guerrier is averaging 1.4 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

Riley Minix is averaging 20.8 points and 9.8 rebounds for the Eagles. Kalil Thomas is averaging 14.3 points over the last 10 games.

Shannon helps Illinois move on to bigger stage after Big Ten championship

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Shannon scores 34 points as No. 13 Illinois takes Big Ten title with 93-87 win over Wisconsin

LAST 10 GAMES: Fighting Illini: 8-2, averaging 87.7 points, 38.4 rebounds, 12.5 assists, 3.4 steals and 3.0 blocks per game while shooting 48.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 82.1 points per game.

Eagles: 7-3, averaging 74.0 points, 36.3 rebounds, 14.4 assists, 5.5 steals and 4.5 blocks per game while shooting 47.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 64.6 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.