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No. 4 Marquette vs. No. 23 Illinois Tuesday college basketball odds: Tyler Kolek game-time decision due to injury

Marquette star Tyler Kolek is a game-time call on Tuesday night.

Matt Severance

Surfing social media today while researching college basketball plays for what's easily the best college basketball night of the season thus far, it's clear that I'm not alone in waiting on my wager for No. 4 Marquette at No. 23 Illinois until the status of Golden Eagles star point guard Tyler Kolek becomes clear. The 2023 Big East Player of the Year is a game-time call due to an ankle injury. The Illini are -1.5 on the SportsLine consensus. This game is part of the Gavitt Tip-Off Games.

I should note that the spread has started to shift to -2 in some places, and has even reached 2.5 at FanDuel. That doesn't mean that the books know whether Kolek will play. There could simply be a lot of early action on Illinois with the presumption he doesn't. Personally, I doubt he will, as Kolek rolled his ankle pretty badly in last Friday's win over Rider and had to be assisted to the locker room during the second half.

Marquette was one of the big surprises in the nation last season under coach Shaka Smart, largely because Kolek broke out. In addition to winning Big East Player of the Year – he was named the preseason favorite for this season's award as well – he was the Big East Tournament Most Outstanding Player, an All-American and a Bob Cousy Award Finalist as the nation's top point guard after averaging 12.9 points, 7.5 assist, 4.1 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game.

In two blowout wins to open this season, albeit in only 46 combined minutes, the senior averaged 10.0 points on 58.3% shooting, 5.0 assists and 5.0 rebounds. It's really tough to see Marquette winning in Champaign without him.

If Kolek is out, Kam Jones could be in line for a huge night if you play college basketball DFS. He was named the Big East Player of the Week last week. Jones led the Golden Eagles to a 2-0 week by averaging 21.5 points and being the leading scorer in both contests. Marquette moved up to No. 4 in the latest Associated Press poll, its highest ranking since the 1977-78 season.

Illinois (2-0) also wasn't much challenged in its first two games against mid-majors. The Illini are led by former Texas Tech transfer Terrence Shannon Jr., who it seems has been playing college hoops forever. He's 23 years old – this will happen more and more in the NIL era as players like Shannon can earn a lot more money staying in school if they aren't top NBA prospects. Shannon was a unanimous Preseason All-Big Ten team selection and on just about every national award list. He's averaging 15.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.5 steals per game.

The Fighting Illini roster features three players who have scored more than 1,000 points in their collegiate careers in Shannon, Marcus Domask and Quincy Guerrier. Only St. John's and TCU have more nationally with four each.

Illinois is 12-6 in its last 18 games vs. top-10 teams, and 4-4 in its last eight games against the top five. The Illini are aiming for their highest-ranked win at home since they down No. 1 Indiana in 2013. Illinois is 41-7 at home since 2020 and has won eight straight there.

Marquette is seeking a fifth straight win against a ranked opponent for the first time in school history. Illinois leads the all-time series 9-6 but lost the last one in November 2021 in Milwaukee as Kolek's steal and basket with 18 seconds left proved to be the difference in a 67-66 win.

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