Illinois Basketball: Illini Non-Conference Predictions

The Illinois basketball team is poised to have a great season.

Here are the non-conference predictions for the 2016-17 campaign.

Southeast Missouri State (W 89-55)

The first game of the season is at home against Southeast Missouri State.  This should be an easy win, all things considered.

The Illini will have a healthy team that is only missing Leron Black due to a four-game suspension to start the season.

Southeast Missouri State is coming off a 5-24 record last season and this season won’t be much better.  They weren’t competitive against many teams that year either.

I expect Illinois to come into this game and take a big lead from the beginning.  This needs to be the start of something special for the Illini.

I look for the Illini to win this game 89-55.

Northern Kentucky (W 81-71)

The next game for Illinois is another home game, this time against Northern Kentucky.  The Norse weren’t much better than the Redhawks last season, so I don’t expect a different result.

Northern Kentucky finished the 2015-16 campaign with a 9-21 overall record.  This included losing their last 7 games of the season.

The main focus for the Illini in this game is to use their size to win.  They need to continue feeding the big men like Mike Thorne Jr. and Michael Finke.

If Illinois can continually feed their centers then I think they will win this game easily.  The tallest player for Northern Kentucky is 6-foot-7.

The Illini come away with a win in this game 81-71.