Illinois is coming into this game with a 29-8 record this season and they were 14-6 in their conference. They finished 2nd place in their conference during the regular season but they have been heating up recently as they won the Big 10 Conference Tournament. They have won their last 7 straight games and they are coming off of a very good win against Iowa State in their last game, but they dominated Iowa State in the 1st half of that game and only won by 3 points in the end, and Iowa State is not a great offensive team either. Illinois has one of the best offenses in the country this season as they average 84.2 points scored per game which is 9th in the country and they also have a very good shooting percentage from the field, but their defense has not been good as they have had trouble defending shots from the field, especially from 3 point range, and they also average 73.2 points allowed per game which is 228th in the country. They are going up against a UConn team that is 34-3 this season and was 18-2 in their conference. UConn had the best record in their conference in the regular season but they also won their conference tournament as they have been gaining a lot of steam now. They have won their last 10 straight games and their last 4 wins have all been by 10+ points. They can certainly match Illinois on offense in this game as UConn has been averaging 81.6 points scored per game which is 21st in the country and they are also ranked 5th in the country for shooting percentage from the field as well as a top 60 team from beyond the arc. Unlike Illinois though, UConn has the much better defense as they average 63.6 points allowed per game which is 10th in the country and they have the 8th best shot defense from the field as well. This is going to be a very different matchup for Illinois than their game against Iowa State as UConn has that same defensive edge if not better and they have the offense to match as well. UConn will cover the spread in this game.