Illinois Fighting Illini vs Tennessee Volunteers Prediction, 12/6/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Illinois Fighting Illini vs Tennessee Volunteers

Date: Saturday, December 6, 2025

Location: Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN

TV: ESPN

Bridgestone Arena is the site where the Tennessee Volunteers (7-2) will try to defeat the Illinois Fighting Illini (6-2) on Saturday.

The Illinois Fighting Illini faced off with Connecticut and took a loss by a score of 74-61 in their last game. In regard to fouls, the Fighting Illini finished with 17 and Connecticut totaled 19 fouls. They knocked down 10 out of their 28 attempts from beyond the perimeter. Connecticut ended up going 70.6% when shooting free throws by converting 12 of their 17 shots. Furthermore, Connecticut had 40 rebounds (14 offensive, 26 defensive), but didn't notch a rejection. Connecticut recorded 19 assists and had 7 steals for this game. Concerning defending, Illinois allowed their opponent to shoot 41.3% from the floor on 26 of 63 shooting. They also recorded 10 assists for this contest while forcing the opposition into 9 turnovers and having 3 steals. Pertaining to hauling in rebounds, they earned a total of 35 with 12 of them being of the offensive sort. At the free throw line, the Fighting Illini made 17 of 18 attempts for a percentage of 94.4%. Illinois finished the game having earned a 31.7% field goal percentage (19 out of 60) and buried 6 out of their 29 shots from distance.

Kylan Boswell is a guy who was a contributor in the matchup. He finished the game shooting 50.0% from the floor and earned 3 assists. He was on the court for 39 minutes played and also collected 9 rebounds. He ended up finishing with 25 points on 8 out of 16 shooting.

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Illinois enters this matchup with a mark of 6-2 so far this season. They are averaging 90.4 pts per contest (28th in the country) while hitting 48.1% from the floor. The Fighting Illini are shooting 32.5% on three-point attempts (76 of 234) and 78.6% from the charity stripe. As a unit, Illinois is grabbing 44.5 boards per game and is sitting with 114 dimes for the season, which has them ranked 213th in the country in terms of passing the rock. They are giving up possession 10.3 times per game and as a group they commit 13.5 fouls on a nightly basis.

Defensively, the Fighting Illini are forcing their opponents into 8.9 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 20.6 fouls. They currently rank 135th in college in allowing assists to the opposition with 99 surrendered so far this season. The Fighting Illini defense is giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 40.3% (211 of 524) and they relinquish 30.5 rebounds per contest as a team. They are surrendering 32.1% from beyond the arc and they are 126th in the country in opponents PPG (70.3).

When they last stepped on the court, the Tennessee Volunteers took a loss by a score of 62-60 when they faced Syracuse. The Volunteers were able to corral 24 defensive boards and 12 offensive boards totaling 36 for the matchup. They also coughed up the ball 17 times, while earning 9 steals in the matchup. Syracuse was called for 14 fouls for the matchup which took the Volunteers to the charity stripe for a total of 15 attempts. They were able to knock down 8 of them for a clip of 53.3%. When it comes to shots from distance, Tennessee made 4 out of 13 attempts (30.8%). Overall, the Volunteers finished the game shooting 24 out of 58 from the field which gave them a percentage of 41.4%. The Volunteers allowed Syracuse to convert 22 out of their 51 attempts from the floor which had them at 43.1% for this contest. They shot 26.3% from three-point range by going 5 out of 19 and walked away from this one shooting 13 out of 22 from the free throw line (59.1%). In regard to how they rebounded, Tennessee allowed Syracuse to snag 33 in total (8 on the offensive side).

Jaylen Carey pitched in for the Volunteers in the matchup. He made 10 out of 16 in the game for a field goal rate of 62.5%, and accounted for 9 rebounds. He scored 22 points in his 23 mins on the court, but didn't record an assist.

Tennessee has a win-loss mark of 7-2 on the campaign. The Volunteers are committing 17.7 personal fouls per contest while shooting 75.3% from the free throw line. They are assisting teammates 19.2 times per game (21st in Division 1) and they are turning it over 13.2 times per contest. Tennessee has earned 747 pts this season (83.0 per contest) and they average 43.0 boards per game. On the offensive side of the court, the Volunteers are shooting 48.0% from the floor, which ranks them 85th in the country.

The Tennessee defense surrenders 28.5% on shots from distance (65 of 228) and opponents are connecting on 68.9% of their foul shots. They have allowed 10.1 assists and 30.4 total boards per game, which has them ranked 26th and 37th in college. The Volunteers are ranked 37th in college in points per game surrendered with 65.0. They have forced 13.1 turnovers per game and have allowed teams to shoot 37.4% from the field (21st in college hoops).

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Illinois

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