Xavier Musketeers vs Illinois Prediction & Picks - NCAA Basketball

Prediction published on 3/20/25, 6:26 PM  by Matt Lowrimore | Modified on 3/22/25 at 9:58 AM in NCAA Basketball Picks

Another one of the intriguing first-round games on Friday will see the 11th-seeded Xavier Musketeers take on the 6th-seeded Illinois Fighting Illini in the Midwest Region. Let’s take a look at the match statistics and predictions for this first-round game between the Musketeers and Fighting Illini.

Xavier enters this game with a record of 22-11. The Musketeers have already played a game in this tournament, beating Texas in the First Four round on Wednesday night. Xavier was down by 8 points at halftime and by as many as 10 in the second half before mounting a rally which allowed them to close the gap and pull away with an 86-80 win. Further, the Musketeers had 5 players score at least 10 points, showing they are a very balanced team this season. 

As for Illinois, they enter this game with a record of 21-12, earning an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament. The Fighting Illini beat Iowa in the second round of the Big Ten tournament before losing to Maryland in the Big Ten quarterfinals. This will be Illinois’ 35th NCAA tournament appearance and their 5th consecutive appearance.