NWestern seems to play at their best in their home building and coming off a beatdown in their previous game.

No, I wouldn’t go as far as picking the Wildcats to actually pull out an upset win, but they can certainly keep this game close and give the Fighting Illini a scare on the road. They have four players averaging in double scoring figures, including Kopp. So they have the offense to score with Illinois.
The Fighting Illini have been decent at times defensively, but it also isn’t like the Wildcats are facing Wisconsin in this game, either.

Northwestern is a different animal at home. They have beaten both Ohio State and Michigan State as ranked opponents in the Welsh-Ryan Arena. This will be a closer game than expected. I’m taking the points on Thursday night in this matchup.