Mark Sears, who averaged 21.5 points per game last season, is currently averaging 17.3 points per game this season.

On November 20, 2024, the No. 8 Alabama Crimson Tide will face off against the No. 25 Illinois Fighting Illini in a highly anticipated top-25 college basketball matchup.

The game is set to take place at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, with a scheduled tip-off at 9 p.m. ET.

Illinois enters the game on a high note, having broken into the top 25 after securing three consecutive wins, boasting an impressive average margin of victory of nearly 30 points per game.

In their last outing, Illinois achieved a 66-54 victory over Oakland, with Tomislav Ivisic leading the charge by scoring 20 points, contributing to his season averages of 17.3 points and 9.0 rebounds per game.

Freshman Will Riley has been a standout for Illinois, averaging 17.7 points per game and showcasing remarkable shooting accuracy with a 69.2% success rate from the 3-point line.

Alabama, which began the season ranked No. 2, has seen a drop to No. 8 following a recent loss to Purdue on November 15, 2024.

In that loss to Purdue, Mark Sears led Alabama with 15 points, while Grant Nelson recorded a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Despite their recent struggles, Alabama is favored by 8.5 points in this matchup, with an over/under total set at 167.5 points according to SportsLine's betting odds.

Illinois has shown strong performance against the spread, covering in seven of its last nine games, while Alabama has struggled, covering only once in four games this season.

The SportsLine Projection Model, which simulates each Division 1 college basketball game 10,000 times, has a solid betting record of 156-114 since 2023, indicating strong predictive performance.

For this game, the SportsLine model predicts a total of 163 points and suggests that one side of the spread has a nearly 70% success rate based on its simulations.