NCAA Basketball Matchup: Wisconsin vs Minnesota
The Big Ten has been the nation’s deepest basketball conference so far this year. Bo Ryan’s Wisconsin Badgers are always an extremely tough team to beat because of their style of play.
NCAAB Gambling: Badgers vs. Golden Gophers
7:00 PM EST
College Basketball Gambling Odds from BetOnline
NCAA Basketball Betting Favorite: Wisconsin -2
Over/Under: 112
Tubby Smith has done a great job keeping the Golden Gophers of Minnesota in the NCAA Tournament picture despite losing their top player early in the season.
Let’s take a closer look at this Big Ten battle.
Wisconsin leads the nation in points per game allowed at just 49.8 points per contest. The Badgers play an aggressive half court defense that makes it tough on the opposition to get any easy looks on the inside. Opponents shoot just 36.5% from the floor against Wisconsin. Offensively, Jordan Taylor is the leader for this team.
Taylor is one of the best point guards in the nation. He has 105 assists compared to just 35 turnovers so far this year. Wisconsin lacks a true low-post presence, but everyone on this team is capable of stepping out and knocking down the three-point shot.
Wisconsin uses up the entire shot clock on almost every possession, which makes the defense work hard all game long. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
When Trevor Mbakwe went down with a season-ending injury, not many people thought Minnesota could even be competitive this year.
Tubby Smith has motivated his guys well, and the Golden Gophers sit in the middle of the pack in the difficult Big Ten Conference. Ten guys play ten minutes or more per game, so depth isn’t an issue for this team.
Ralph Sampson III and Rodney Williams are both solid post defenders who rebound the ball very well. The Golden Gophers are one of the best defensive rebounding teams in the nation. Williams is also the leading scorer for Minnesota at 10.5 points per game.
Julian Welch is knocking down 45% of his shots from beyond the arc.
Expect an extremely close game all the way in this one. Both defenses should have the upper hand in this battle.
Prediction: Wisconsin 56 Minnesota 54
