Illinois @ Notre Dame

Who will WIN this matchup?

Illinois Fighting Illini (2-4)

@ Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5-1)

Current odds:

Illinois Fighting Illini: (+260)

Notre Dame Fighting Irish: (-320)

• The line for this game is Notre Dame by 7 points.

• Notre Dame looks for its sixth win in seven games to start the season as it hosts Illinois on Tuesday evening as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Both teams come in hot as the Fighting Irish lit up the scoreboard for 95 points on Saturday, while the Fighting Illini tied a school record with 16 triples on Sunday. Rex Pflueger, the only senior scholarship player on the Irish, exploded for a career-high 20 points on 6-of-7 shooting, including 4-of-4 beyond the arc, as Notre Dame crushed DePaul 95-70.

•  Illinois snapped a four-game losing streak with its 86-67 win over Mississippi Valley State where it shot 16-of-30 from the 3-point line – though don’t expect to see as many attempts on Tuesday. “We did some nice things today, especially from the 3-point line. But I think we got a little crazy shooting them out there. We need to find a better balance by getting more shots in the paint from our big guys,” coach Brad Underwood told reporters after the game.

• Sophomore guard Trent Frazier, the team’s leading scorer at 17.6 points per game, led the way over the Delta Devils with 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including 4-of-6 from long range. Junior forward Kipper Nichols added 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting for his best offensive output of the season. Freshman guard Ayo Dosunmu, who is filling the stat sheet on a regular basis by averaging 14.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.5 steals, continued to impress by scoring six points while grabbing nine boards and handing out nine assists on Sunday.

• The Fighting Irish entered Saturday shooting 39 percent from the field but finally found their rhythm against DePaul, hitting on 55 percent of their field goals, including 13-of-27 from 3-point range. Junior guard T.J. Gibbs, the team’s leading scorer at 12.8 points per game, matched his season high with 18 points on 7-of-16 shooting. Freshmen Prentiss Hubb and Nate Laszewski each had 15 points – a great sign for a team that is in the middle of what Brey calls a “youth movement.”

• Notre Dame F John Mooney grabbed 11 rebounds against DePaul and has reached double figures in rebounding in each of the past four games.

• Illinois freshman C Samba Kane threw down two huge dunks as part of a six-point performance, leading Underwood to say he anticipates “some decent playing time for him” in the near future.

• Underwood and Frazier both admitted to being tired on Sunday after the team had just returned from the Maui Invitational.