Penn Quakers vs Illinois Fighting Illini Prediction, 11/5/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Penn Quakers vs Illinois Fighting Illini

Date: Thursday, November 5, 2026

Location: State Farm Center in Champaign, IL

TV: FS1

Odds/Point Spread: Penn (+27.5)

The Penn Quakers (18-12 last year) are traveling to State Farm Center on Thursday where they will attempt to beat the Illinois Fighting Illini (28-9 last season). Penn opens this matchup as 27.5-point dogs. The betting total comes in at 162.

The Penn Quakers faced off with Illinois and went home with a loss by a final score of 105-70 in their last game. Penn wrapped up the contest having earned a 44.8% FG percentage (30 out of 67) and knocked down 9 out of their 30 3-point attempts. From the charity stripe, the Quakers converted 1 of their 2 shots for a percentage of 50.0%. When talking about grabbing rebounds, they compiled 21 with 7 of them being offensive. They also doled out 13 assists for the game while forcing the opposition into 2 turnovers and earning 2 steals. When discussing defending, Penn allowed the other team to go 50.0% from the floor on 37 of 74 shooting. Illinois recorded 15 dimes and had 2 steals in this matchup. Moreover, Illinois collected 46 rebounds (18 offensive, 28 defensive), but wrapped up the game with no rejections. Illinois finished the game shooting 76.2% at the charity stripe by knocking down 16 of 21 shots. They converted 15 out of their 36 tries from beyond the arc. In regard to personal fouls, the Quakers ended up with 22 while Illinois racked up 10 personal fouls.

Michael Zanoni is one guy who was a major contributor in this contest. He finished the contest at 50.0% from the field and also distributed 1 assist. He played for 30 minutes and collected 1 rebound. He accounted for 20 points on 9 out of 18 shooting.

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Penn will enter this matchup after finishing with a mark of 18-12 last season. They lost possession via turnover 10.7 times per game and as a team committed 16.8 fouls per contest. As a group, Penn pulled down 36.0 rebounds per game and accumulated 418 assists last season, which was 255th in college hoops in terms of passing the rock. The Quakers connected on 38.2% on 3-pointers (243 of 636) and 69.3% from the free throw line. They averaged 75.9 points per outing (174th in college) while going 44.1% from the field.

When they were on defense, the Quakers forced 12.2 turnovers on a nightly basis and they drew 18.6 personal fouls. They were ranked 187th in college hoops in allowing assists to the opposition with 442 surrendered last year. The Quakers defense gave up an opponent shooting percentage of 45.3% (828 of 1,828) and they surrendered 36.5 boards per game as a group. They gave up 32.2% on shots from downtown and they were ranked 194th in D-1 in points per game allowed (74.4).

The last time they took the court, the Illinois Fighting Illini got the victory with a final of 120-45 when they played Fairleigh Dickinson. Regarding rebounding, Illinois allowed Fairleigh Dickinson to collect 18 in total (3 offensive). They finished shooting 15.2% from beyond the perimeter by connecting on 5 of 33 and walked away from this one shooting 6 of 11 at the free throw line (54.5%). The Fighting Illini permitted Fairleigh Dickinson to bury 17 out of 61 tries from the floor which gave them a rate of 27.9% in this contest. When the final whistle blew, the Fighting Illini ended up shooting 46 out of 83 from the field which had them shooting 55.4%. When discussing shooting from beyond the arc, Illinois buried 19 out of 51 attempts (37.3%). They were able to knock down 9 of the free throw tries for a rate of 56.3%. Fairleigh Dickinson had 15 fouls for the matchup which took the Fighting Illini to the charity stripe for a total of 16 tries. They turned the ball over 7 times, while getting 7 steals in the game. The Fighting Illini collected 40 defensive boards and 21 offensive rebounds for a total of 61 for this contest.

Andrej Stojakovic pitched in for the Fighting Illini for this game. He recorded 20 points in his 20 mins of playing time and accounted for 4 assists for the contest. He made 9 out of 11 in this contest for a rate of 81.8%, and had 7 rebounds.

Illinois had a record of 28-9 last year. The Fighting Illini were responsible for committing 13.4 fouls every game and they went 78.0% from the free throw line. They assisted teammates 14.2 times per game (155th in college) and they lost possession via turnover 8.7 times per game. Illinois totaled 3,079 points last year (83.2 per game) and they grabbed 41.1 boards per contest. As an offensive unit, the Fighting Illini hit 46.1% from the field, which was ranked 115th in the nation.

The Illinois defense allowed 31.3% on 3-pointers (316 of 1011) and opponents knocked down 73.8% of their shots from the free throw line. They allowed 22.3 assists and 30.8 total boards per game, which was ranked 324th and 19th in those categories. The Fighting Illini on defense were ranked 51st in college in points per game surrendered with 68.8. They were able to force 7.7 turnovers on a nightly basis and allowed teams to shoot 40.6% from the field (24th in D-1).

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Penn (+27.5)

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