Morehead State is coming into this game with a 26-8 record this season and they were the best team in their conference this year at 14-4. They also won their conference tournament to secure this bid and have been playing very well in their recent games, winning their last 6 straight games. Their defense has been very good in their recent games as they have allowed 63 points or less in 5 of their last 6 games as well as allowing 57 points or less in 4 of their last 6 games. They have also been averaging 62.8 points allowed per game this season which is 8th in the country. Their offense has also been playing well as they scored 69+ points in all 3 games of their conference tournament and they have also scored 70+ points in 6 of their last 8 games. They are going up against an Illinois team that is 26-8 this season and was 14-6 in their conference. They had the 2nd best record in the conference during the regular season and ended up winning the Big 10 Tournament. They have been playing well recently as they have won their last 4 straight games and their offense has been great in those games, but their defense has also allowed 87 points in each of their last 2 games as well as allowing 80+ points in 11 of their last 14 games. They have been averaging 73.8 points allowed per game all season which is ranked 240th in the country and Morehead State has the 9th best 3 point defense in the country as well as the 5th best defense from the field, allowing opponents to hit 38.9% of their shots from the field this season. Morehead State has the defensive intensity to keep this game close with Illinois and Illinois has a defense that allows a lot of points themselves. Morehead State will cover the spread in this game.