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The Daily Sweat: Illinois, Texas meet at Madison Square Garden

Pete Truszkowski
·4-min read

College basketball takes over Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night with a doubleheader as a part of the Jimmy V Classic. In the earlier game, No. 2 Texas is just a 2.5-point favorite over No. 17 Illinois. Once that game wraps up, No. 15 Duke is a 2.5-point favorite over Iowa. It's a solid pair of games to get us through our Tuesday night.

Texas is the current betting favorite to win the Big 12. The Longhorns are ranked No. 2 in the country as they have yet to lose this season. KenPom validates that ranking, as they are No. 2 in their efficiency metrics as well. The Longhorns are led by guards Tyrese Hunter and Marcus Carr, who are both averaging over 15 points per game. Texas is coming off a hard-fought victory over Creighton last Thursday.

Illinois is ranked No. 17, and it's already dropped two games this season, falling to Virginia and Maryland. Those two teams have combined for zero losses, so it's hard to be overly critical of Illinois. The Fighting Illini are led by guard Terrence Shannon, who's averaging nearly 20 points per game.

In the night cap, Duke is a 2.5-point favorite over Iowa. Duke is ranked No. 15 by the AP poll and No. 18 by KenPom. The Blue Devils have dropped two games this season, losing to Kansas and Purdue. Iowa enters with a 6-1 record, with its lone loss coming to TCU.

There's no midweek MACtion as the college football regular season is over. We're a little over a week away from bowl games. In the meantime, let's enjoy some solid college basketball between four solid programs. The spreads are tight, which suggests we'll get some good games.

AUSTIN, TX - NOVEMBER 16: Texas head coach Chris Beard talks with Texas guard Tyrese Hunter (4) during game against the Gonzaga Bulldogs at the Moody Center in Austin, TX on November 16, 2022. (Photo by Adam Davis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Tyrese Hunter and Chris Beard lead Texas into MSG to take on Illinois. (Adam Davis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images (Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

What about the NBA?

It's a small slate in the NBA on Tuesday night with just three games on the docket across the league.

LeBron James makes his lone return to Cleveland this season, and despite tweaking his sore ankle on Sunday, he expects to play for the Lakers on Tuesday night. However, James' Lakers are 4.5-point underdogs on the road against the Cavaliers.

Elsewhere, the Miami Heat are 8.5-point favorites over the Detroit Pistons and the Denver Nuggets are 4.5-point favorites over the Dallas Mavericks.

Nine-game slate in the NHL

There's a nine-game slate on tap in the NHL on Tuesday night. The best game of the night is likely in Dallas, where the Stars are slight -105 home underdogs against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The game features arguably the two hottest players in the sport. Jason Robertson of Dallas enters on an 18-game point streak, notching 34 points over the streak. Not to be outdone, Mitch Marner of Toronto has points in 19 straight games.

The Winnipeg Jets are slight +100 home underdogs against the Florida Panthers. That should be another good game. The rest of the slate features either massive favorites or rather unappealing matchups. The New Jersey Devils are -400 favorites over the Chicago Blackhawks, while the Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Islanders, Tampa Bay Lightning, Carolina Hurricanes and Seattle Kraken are all favorites of at least -175 on the moneyline.

First look at Week 14 lines

Week 13 of the NFL season wrapped up on Monday night with Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers erasing a late 13-point deficit to come back and get a key victory in the NFC South over the New Orleans Saints. However, the late comeback wasn't enough to cover the 3.5-point spread for the Buccaneers.

Six teams are on a bye week in Week 14, which means we have 13 games taking place this weekend. Here's a look at the early betting lines at BetMGM: