#5 Illinois v. #2 Baylor

Who will WIN this matchup?

#5 Illinois Fighting Illini (3-0)

#2 Baylor Bears (2-0)

Current odds:

Illinois Fighting Illini: (+175)

Baylor Bears: (-200)

• The line for this game is Baylor by 4.5 points.

• The rest of the college basketball world can mark their calendars and count the seconds until Saturday’s clash between No. 1 Gonzaga and No. 2 Baylor. The Bears (2-0), on the other hand, can’t focus on the Zags until they deal with No. 5 Illinois (3-0). The first top 5 clash of the week takes place Wednesday in the nightcap of the Jimmy V Classic at Indianapolis.

• Baylor is expected to regain the services of head coach Scott Drew, who missed Baylor’s impressive wins over Louisiana and Washington over the weekend in Las Vegas while completing his quarantine after contracting COVID-19. He used Zoom to participate in the Bears’ scout sessions and pregame locker room discussions, but mostly volunteered to stand aside and let Tang run the show.

• Neither Louisiana nor Washington got in Baylor’s way as the Bears bashed both by 30-plus. Illinois, meanwhile, won three games in three days on its home court last week to move into the Associated Press’ Top 5 for the first time since losing to North Carolina in the 2005 NCAA championship game.

• The Illini thrashed North Carolina A&T and Chicago State by a combined 121 points before edging Ohio by two on Friday. Junior guard Ayo Dosunmu sank the tying and go-ahead free throws with two seconds left to save an Illinois squad that committed 16 turnovers.

• Illinois and Baylor both feature preseason All-American guards in their lineup in Dosunmu and Jared Butler. Dosunmu dominated Illinois’ multi-team event as he averaged 25.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and 6.7 assists. Butler averaged a team-high 18.5 points along with 4.5 assists and 2.5 steals in the Bears’ sweep. He canned 7 of 12 3-pointers, which fell in line with Baylor’s 50 percent marksmanship on 3s (28 of 56) against the Ragin’ Cajuns and Huskies.

• Illinois 7-footer Kofi Cockburn, named to the Big Ten’s preseason all-league team, averaged 15.0 points and 11.7 rebounds in 22.3 minutes last week. He’ll be a handful for Baylor forwards Flo Thamba (6-10, 245) and Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua (6-8, 245).

• Meanwhile, Illinois sharpshooter Adam Miller (18.0 ppg) and guard Trent Frazier will get a taste of Baylor guards Mark Vital and Davion Mitchell’s defensive zeal. Vital piled up eight points, 15 rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots against Washingto