Illinois and Colorado square off in first round of NCAA Tournament

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Colorado Buffaloes (22-11, 13-8 Big 12) vs. Illinois Fighting Illini (21-11, 11-10 Big Ten)

Nashville, Tennessee; Saturday, 9:30 p.m. EDT

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Fighting Illini -3.5; over/under is 132.5

BOTTOM LINE: Illinois plays in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament against Colorado.

The Fighting Illini's record in Big Ten games is 11-10, and their record is 10-1 in non-conference play. Illinois is 3-1 in one-possession games.

The Buffaloes are 13-8 against Big 12 teams. Colorado has a 2-3 record in games decided by less than 4 points.

Illinois makes 45.7% of its shots from the field this season, which is 6.3 percentage points higher than Colorado has allowed to its opponents (39.4%). Colorado averages 67.8 points per game, 1.7 more than the 66.1 Illinois allows.

TOP PERFORMERS: Berry Wallace is shooting 47.4% and averaging 18.4 points for the Fighting Illini. Cearah Parchment is averaging 14.2 points over the last 10 games.

Desiree Wooten is averaging 13.3 points and 1.6 steals for the Buffaloes. Zyanna Walker is averaging 11.9 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Fighting Illini: 5-5, averaging 75.7 points, 29.8 rebounds, 15.6 assists, 6.8 steals and 1.8 blocks per game while shooting 46.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 69.0 points per game.

Buffaloes: 7-3, averaging 67.2 points, 32.6 rebounds, 12.9 assists, 7.2 steals and 2.5 blocks per game while shooting 43.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 61.7 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.