Two teams that won their conference tournaments will face each other on Thursday night. The 3-seed Illinois Fighting Illini will face the 2-seed Iowa State Cyclones in the Sweet 16 of the East Region in Boston, Massachusetts, at the TD Garden. The game, which will start at 10:09 PM ET and air on TBS, will be played at the TD Garden.

The Illinois Fighting Illini have been one of the hottest teams in college basketball. They enter this game having won nine of their last ten games and are on a six-game winning streak following Saturday’s 89-63 win against the Duquesne Dukes. The Fighting Illini have looked dominant in both of their games in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, with both wins coming by an average margin of 21 points per game. 

Illinois got off to a sluggish start in the 2024 NCAA Tournament and trailed the Morehead State Eagles for the majority of the 1^st half in their first game of the tournament and trailed in the 2^nd half 43-45 with 16:44 left to go in the game. However, that was the last time the Fighting Illini trailed in the NCAA Tournament and led wire-to-wire in their 2^nd round matchup against the Duquesne Dukes after starting the game on a 16-6 run. The Fighting Illini will be playing in their 12^th Sweet 16 in program history and their first since the 2005 NCAA Tournament, in which they advanced to the NCAA Championship game before losing to the North Carolina Tar Heels by a score of 70-75. 

The Illinois Fighting Illini will face the Iowa State Cyclones in the Sweet 16 on Thursday, looking to advance to their first Elite Eight since the 2005 NCAA Tournament.

Like the Illinois Fighting Illini, the Iowa State Cyclones enter this matchup red-hot. They have also won nine of their last ten games and the Big 12 Conference Tournament. The Cyclones have been one of the most defensively efficient teams in college basketball this season, ranking fourth nationally with an average of 61.25 points allowed per game. 

The Cyclones have continued their strong defensive play into the tournament and have limited their opponents to an average of 60.5 points per game, including limiting the Washington State Cougars to 56 points in their 2^nd round game of the 2024 NCAA Tournament. The Cyclones started poorly against the Washington State Cougars as they failed to score a point until the 15:06 mark of the 1^st half and trailed the Cougars 0-7 before making a free throw for their first point of the game and would not take the lead until there was 5:36 left in the 1^st half and would tie Washington State 27-27 at the end of the 1^st half. The Cyclones would take control of the game in the 2^nd half after starting on a 6-0 run and would not trail the Cougars for the rest of the game, leading by as many as 12 points in the 2^nd half. 

This will only be the 7^th time the Cyclones have made it to the Sweet 16 and have only advanced past the Sweet 16 twice, with their most recent Sweet 16 appearance resulting in a loss against the Virginia Cavaliers in the 2016 NCAA Tournament by a score of 71-84. The Iowa State Cyclones will look to advance to their 3^rd Elite Eight in school history when they face the Illinois Fighting Illini on Thursday night in the Sweet 16.

BookMaker has the Iowa State Cyclones listed as 1.5-point favorites against the Illinois Fighting Illini in the 2024 NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16 on Thursday night in the East region. The teams have played each other twice before Thursday night's matchup, with Iowa State having won both contests, including the most recent matchup in the 2018-19 NCAA basketball season on the road by a score of 84-68.

Both teams enter this game having won nine of their last ten games and are tournament champions in their respective conferences. Illinois is the better team offensively, while Iowa State is allowing the 4^th fewest points per game this season and has limited their opponents in the tournament to 60.5 points per game. Iowa State won both previous meetings against Illinois and covered the spread in both contests. Take the moneyline for the Iowa State Cyclones when they face the Illinois Fighting Illini in the Sweet 16 on Thursday night.