#848 ASA PLAY ON 8* Illinois -1.5 over Purdue, Monday at 12 PM ET - We have Illinois power rated as the top team in the Big 10 right now. They are playing their best basketball over the last month or so going 6-0 with all of their wins coming by double digits. They did struggle early in the season with their All American center Cockburn out (22 PPG & 12 RPG) but since he’s come back they’ve won 11 of their last 12 games. Their only loss during that stretch was by 4 points vs Arizona (highest rated team in the Pac 12) by 4 points in a game the Illini led by double digits. Their 5 worst performances of the season from an efficiency standpoint game prior to December 12th. Purdue has played 2 Big 10 road games thus far losing @ Rutgers and beating Penn State by 7. Both offenses are high end ranking in the top 10 in adjusted efficiency, however Illinois has the much better defense (21st in efficiency and 10th in eFG% allowed). They also defense inside the arc at a very high level (8th nationally) which will help limit much of the advantage Purdue has on other teams with Edey and Williams inside. Dating back to middle of last season Illinois has covered 9 of their last 10 games at home vs Division 1 opponents. They have also won 21 of their last 24 home games outright and that’s pretty much all we need here with this line sitting at -1.5 as of this write up. Take Illinois.