Illinois will return home to the State Farm Center on Friday night to host Sam Houston State. It will be another buy game for the Illini as they look to get back on track following Tuesday night's road loss to Texas Tech. Illinois suffered its first defeat of the season and will look to bounce back with a convincing win on Friday.

Texas Tech is expected to be one of the best teams in the country this season, but Illinois was unable to make a statement in its first marquee matchup of the year. The Illini came out flat and found themselves trailing by 20 points in the first half.

Illinois is currently a 35.5-point favorite against the Bearkats and is expected to cruise to an easy victory. This will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs, but Brad Underwood is familiar with Sam Houston State from his time in the Southland Conference at Stephen F. Austin. Underwood went a perfect 7-0 against the Bearkats during his three seasons with the Lumberjacks and will look to improve to 8-0 with a win on Friday.

Brad Underwood
Brad Underwood

Sam Houston State is coming off an impressive win over Pepperdine on Wednesday night and will have just one day to prepare for an Illinois offense that remains ranked No. 1 nationally by KenPom. The Bearkats opened their season against Alabama but were unable to keep the game competitive, falling 96-74. Despite the loss, they knocked down 15 three-pointers and are currently shooting an impressive 37.7% from beyond the arc. Illinois will need to do a better job defending the perimeter than Alabama did.

This should be a good opportunity for Illinois to get back on track before heading to Duke on Tuesday night. The Illini struggled with turnovers, rebounding, and free-throw shooting in Lubbock and should be focused on cleaning up those areas. They will still be without one of their best rebounders, David Mirkovic, but there is little reason to believe Sam Houston State should be able to win the rebounding battle.

Here is everything you need to know before the Illinois Fighting Illini take on the Sam Houston State Bearkats Friday night:

How to Watch

Sam Houston State at No. 3 Illinois Fighting Illini (2-1)

Location: State Farm Center | Champaign, IL

Tipoff: Friday, Nov. 13, at 6:00 p.m. CT

TV: BTN+

Betting Odds (FanDuel Sportsbook)

Betting Line: Illinois -35.5

Over/Under: 169.5

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Injury Report

Illinois Fighting Illini

F David Mirkovic: Out (Foot)

F Jake Davis: Out (Shoulder)

Source: Yahoo Sports