How to Watch: Illinois Basketball at Michigan State (Game 18)

Wear a helmet, because things are bound to get physical between the Illini and Spartans at the Breslin Center on Sunday

Jan 14, 2025; Bloomington, Indiana, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Kasparas Jakucionis (32) high-fives Illinois Fighting Illini guard Kylan Boswell (4) during the first half against the Indiana Hoosiers at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Mandatory Credit: Robert Goddin-Imagn Images / Robert Goddin-Imagn Images

How to Watch

No. 19 Illinois (13-4, 5-2 Big Ten) vs. No. 12 Michigan State (15-2, 6-0 Big Ten)

Day and time: Sunday (Jan. 19) at 11 a.m. CT
Venue: Breslin Center, East Lansing, Michigan
TV: CBS
Stream: https://www.cbssports.com/watch/live | CBS App
Listen: WDWS-AM 1400 (Champaign)
WLS-AM 890 (Chicago)
Illini Sports Network affiliates (other local markets)
Varsity Network app
SiriusXM 372
SXM App 372

Odds and Ends

Favorite: Update pending
Over/under: Update pending
Illinois vs. Michigan State all time: Michigan State leads the series 65-64
Streak: Michigan State has won one in a row against Illinois
Last meeting: Michigan State 88, Illinois 80 (Feb. 10, 2024, East Lansing, Michigan)

Probable Illinois starters:
G Kasparas Jakucionis

G Kylan Boswell

G Tre White

F Ben Humrichous

C Tomislav Ivisic

Eight-headed monster 😈

The Illini are tied for the most 20-point scorers in Division I this season. pic.twitter.com/mKqca5cCvo

— Illinois Men's Basketball (@IlliniMBB) January 17, 2025

Smart-Fan Stuff

Key stat: 19.1

The Spartans lead the country in fastbreak scoring at 19.1 points per game. With lead guard Jeremy Fears Jr. (6.4 assists per game) constantly pushing the pace and facilitating to either the rim-running Coen Carr – who just so happens to be the biggest vertical threat in college basketball – or to Jaden Akins spotting up on the three-point line (26 made threes), Michigan State is arguably Division I's most dangerous team when attacking before an opponent gets its defense set.

Meanwhile, the Illini love to crash the offensive glass with five bodies, but given MSU’s transition excellence, that may need to change on Sunday. If there aren’t at least two Illinois defenders sprinting back immediately after each Spartans shot attempt, the Illini are just asking to be run – literally – out of the Breslin Center.

Quick tips:

• Out of 355 teams in Division I college basketball, Michigan State ranks an astounding 339th in three-point shooting (28.7 percent). The second-worst long-distance shooting team in a Power Four conference, the Spartans have struggled mightily from deep, connecting on 10 or more triples just once this season.

• The Spartans are, like the Illini, a top-10 rebounding team (eighth in the nation, with a plus-10.3 margin). Also like Illinois, Michigan State makes a team effort of cleaning the glass, with six players who collect three or more rebounds a game, led by big man Jaxon Kohler’s 8.1. The Spartans have lost the rebounding battle just once all season (in a loss to No. 9 Kansas) – a trend the Illini will need to reverse on Sunday to pull off a mild upset.

Illinois on SI Prediction

After handing Indiana its largest home loss since 2010 in a 94-69 win on Tuesday, Illinois is hoping to carry forward momentum into East Lansing on Sunday morning. Meanwhile, the Spartans have won 10 straight – including all six of their Big Ten games. 

The battle of the boards, although always worth monitoring, could be the determining factor in this one. The Spartans' inability and preference not to shoot many threes may oddly work in their favor, since they don't lose anything and aren't forced to be something they aren't against an Illini defense designed to run opponents off the three-point line. And yet, if MSU doesn't clean up on the glass and simply winds up trading twos for Illinois' threes, it will be the Spartans who get run out of their own building.

Given the circumstances, this figures to be an old-school Big Ten dogfight, with arguably the two most physical squads in the conference locking horns. Neither Illinois nor Michigan State has yet faced an opponent so equally matched and well-equipped to offset what they do. If it comes down to a coin flip, it's hard not to lean the way of the team that hasn't lose at home since last February.

Michigan State 88, Illinois 84

More From Illinois on Sports Illustrated:

Michigan State's Tom Izzo Compares Illinois Basketball to 'Celtics or Lakers'

Illinois Basketball Makes Significant Moves in NET, KenPom Rankings

3 Takeaways From Illinois' Basketball's Win Over Indiana