Illinois is heading back to the NCAA Tournament, punching an automatic ticket via the B1G Tournament title with Sunday’s win over Wisconsin.

As a result, Illinois will head to the East Region as a 3-seed in what could be the toughest path to the Final Four. The East also includes No. 1 overall seed UConn to go with 2-seed Iowa State and 4-seed Auburn.

In reality, the Illini are a pretty good value play for interested parties. ESPN Bet has Illinois at +750 to win the East Region while UConn leads the way at +105. Fans can also track the latest odds via Tradition’s Ohio betting apps.

As for the opening round, Illinois heads into a matchup against 14-seed Morehead State as a 12.5-point favorite. The Illini have a chance to roll into the second round, but now is not the time of year to take anything for granted.

Here are the key things to know for Illinois’ matchup:

Morehead State’s record vs. power conferences

Morehead State did its best in scheduling this season, hitting the road in nonconference play to face Alabama, Purdue, Penn State and Indiana. The Eagles went 0-4 in those games and were outscored 335-to-249.

Morehead state did nearly beat Indiana and held a double-digit lead at halftime of that game, but the Hoosiers stormed back for a one-point win.

Granted, all those games happened prior to January, and things look differently in March. It’s possible Morehead State leans on those experiences in preparation to face Illinois, but it’s also possible the Eagles just can’t hang against tougher competition.

Dynamic 3-point shooting team

One strength for Morehead State — and a great equalizer in March — is 3-point shooting with the Eagles shooting 36% from deep and making 318 3-pointers during the season. That number ranks 16th in the country.

Individually, Kalil Thomas leads Morehead State with 3.1 3-pointers per game while shooting 43.5% from range. That percentage is tied for 8th-best in the country. Jordan Lathon is also a sharpshooter at 38% from deep and averages 15.4 points per game.

Electric scoring battle potential

Terrence Shannon Jr. enters this game as the nation’s 3rd-leading scorer at 23 points per game, and he’ll face a similarly dynamic scorer for the Eagles. Riley Minix is a versatile 6-foot-7 forward who also averages 20 points per game (20.8) and can fill up the stat sheet in a number of ways.

Minix is shooting 65% from inside the arc but also averages 1.6 3-pointers per game in shooting 34% from deep. He also leads the Eagles with 9.8 rebounds and rounds out his performance with 2.3 assists, 1.3 steals and a block per game. Minix produced 19 double-doubles this season and scored 30+ 3 times.

If Morehead State has any hopes for an upset, Minix will need to be electric with the ball in his hands, and it could set up an epic duel involving Shannon on the big stage.