Fairleigh Dickinson Knights vs Illinois Fighting Illini Prediction, 11/2/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Fairleigh Dickinson Knights vs Illinois Fighting Illini

Date: Monday, November 2, 2026

Location: State Farm Center in Champaign, IL

TV: BTN

The Fairleigh Dickinson Knights (11-21 last year) are headed to State Farm Center on Monday where they will attempt to defeat the Illinois Fighting Illini (28-9 last season).

The Fairleigh Dickinson Knights faced Mercyhurst and went home with a loss by a final score of 70-61 in their last game. When it comes to fouls, the Knights walked away with 18 and Mercyhurst accumulated 19 fouls. They made 6 out of their 17 shots from downtown. Mercyhurst finished the contest at 87.5% when shooting free throws by converting 14 of their 16 tries. On top of that, Mercyhurst totaled 31 boards (3 offensive, 28 defensive), but wasn't able to record a rejection. Mercyhurst dished out 14 assists and had 5 steals in this matchup. When talking about the defense, Fairleigh Dickinson allowed their opponent to shoot 51.0% from the floor on 25 out of 49 shooting. They also dished out 8 assists for this game while forcing the other team into 10 turnovers and earning 5 steals. When discussing pulling down rebounds, they earned a total of 29 with 8 of them being offensive. From the charity stripe, the Knights made 14 of their 21 tries for a percentage of 66.7%. Fairleigh Dickinson finished with a 38.9% FG percentage (21 out of 54) and made 5 out of their 23 shots from distance.

Arthur Cox is one player who was a contributor in this game. He scored 15 points on 4 out of 9 shooting. He saw the court for 24 minutes and snagged 3 rebounds. He ended up going 44.4% from the field and dished out 3 assists.

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Fairleigh Dickinson comes into this contest after finishing with a mark of 11-21 last season. They turned it over 11.8 times per contest and as a squad committed 17.3 personal fouls on a nightly basis. As a team, Fairleigh Dickinson collected 35.3 boards per game and earned 386 assists last year, which was 312th in the nation in terms of passing the ball. The Knights hit on 31.0% on three-point shots (254 of 820) and 70.6% from the charity stripe. They averaged 67.2 points per outing (341st in the country) on 41.3% from the floor.

Defensively, the Knights forced 10.9 turnovers per contest while drawing 17.0 fouls. They gave up 36.4% from 3-point land while they were 72nd in D-1 in points per game allowed (70.2). The Knights gave up an opponent FG percentage of 46.1% (781 of 1,695) and they surrendered 32.0 rebounds per contest as a team. They were ranked 64th in D-1 in allowing assists to their opponents with 393 surrendered over the course of last year.

When they last stepped on the hardwood, the Illinois Fighting Illini took a loss by a final score of 71-62 against Connecticut. Concerning rebounding, Illinois allowed Connecticut to pull down 33 in total (10 on the offensive side). They shot 36.4% from three-point range by going 12 out of 33 and finished the contest at 15 out of 17 at the charity stripe (88.2%). The Fighting Illini permitted Connecticut to make 22 of their 62 tries from the field which gave them a rate of 35.5% for the contest. Overall, the Fighting Illini finished the game shooting 19 for 56 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 33.9%. When discussing shooting from beyond the arc, Illinois made 6 out of their 26 attempts (23.1%). They were able to bury 18 of them for a rate of 78.3%. Connecticut was called for 21 fouls for the game which got the Fighting Illini to the free throw line for 23 attempts. They gave up possession 8 times, while getting 2 steals for the matchup. The Fighting Illini were able to corral 31 defensive rebounds and 11 offensive boards for a total of 42 in this game.

Keaton Wagler pitched in for the Fighting Illini for this game. He totaled 20 points in his 37 minutes on the court and totaled 2 assists for this contest. He knocked down 7 of 16 in this matchup giving him a field goal percentage of 43.8%, and totaled 8 rebounds.

Illinois had a win-loss mark of 28-9 last season. As an offense, the Fighting Illini connected on 46.1% from the field, which ranked 115th in college hoops. Illinois scored 3,079 pts last year (83.2 per game) and they grabbed 41.1 rebounds per game. They assisted teammates 14.2 times per contest (155th in D-1) and they coughed up possession 8.7 times per contest. The Fighting Illini committed 13.4 fouls per game and they went 78.0% from the free throw line.

The Fighting Illini were ranked 51st in college hoops in points given up per game with 68.8. They forced 7.7 TO's every game and allowed teams to shoot 40.6% from the field (24th in college). The Illinois defense conceded 31.3% on 3-pointers (316 of 1011) and their opponents knocked down 73.8% of their foul shots. They surrendered 22.3 dimes and 30.8 total rebounds per game, which had them ranked 324th and 19th in Division 1.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Fairleigh Dickinson

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