Indiana vs Wisconsin Odds, Lines, and Spread (Dec. 8)

Odds as of December 8th, 2021.

Mike Woodson’s club saw Trayce Jackson-Davis put up a team-high 14 points — well under his 21 per game clip so far — and Tamar Bates come off the bench to score a career-high 13 in the 13-point victory over the Cornhuskers.  Jackson-Davis added seven rebounds, four blocked shots and three steals as he continues to show he’s one of the best players in the Big Ten this season.

Meantime, it was the Davis Show for Greg Gard’s group in a 13-point win against the Golden Eagles. Johnny Davis, the team’s leading scorer at 20.1 points per game, registered a game-high 25 on 9-of-14 shooting. Senior Brad Davison, UW’s second-leading scorer, chipped in 20.

Hoosier Gold?

Indiana rebounded nicely following its lone loss of the season against Nebraska Saturday, but now the competition steps up considerably against Bucky. No matter what, IU fans can take comfort knowing they have Jackson-Davis on their side.

Trayce Jackson-Davis doing it all for the Hoosiers 👀

(via @br_CBB)
pic.twitter.com/sFDpydDYle

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) November 10, 2021

The 6-foot-9 junior put up 23 points and 12 boards against UW in an 80-73 loss to the Badgers in Madison last season — one of his eight double-doubles in conference play during the 2020-21 slate. So far this season, TJD has three double-doubles. That does not include a 43-point explosion against Marshall in a 90-79 win Thanksgiving Weekend. Ultimately, Wednesday’s tilt will serve as a good barometer of where Woodson’s team is at right now.

The Hoosiers have played a friendly schedule — with all of their wins coming at Assembly Hall. They’re one of the better defensive units in the country per KenPom, showing up in the top-25 in four key categories: defensive adjusted efficiency (16th), defensive effective field goal percentage (6th), defensive 2-point percentage (3rd) and defensive block percentage (23rd). Look for IU to try and take the air out of the ball a bit, utilizing Jackson-Davis’ all-around skills in half-court sets against UW.

Badger Davis Group

For as well as TJD has performed for Indiana this season, Wisconsin’s super sophomore Davis has been every bit as impressive. The 6-foot-5 guard — who averaged seven points coming off the bench last year —  has blossomed into one of the best scorers in the country.

Johnny Davis … good at basketball@ErikRole @jerryxmao good at videopic.twitter.com/l7uD7BnvFp

— Brandon Harrison (@brandonharrison) December 4, 2021

Along with Davison, the pair has led one of the true surprising outfits in the game early in the 2021-22 slate. Gard’s team has won five straight over top-100 competition (per KenPom) — including winning the Maui Invitational (played in Vegas) for the first time in program history. The Badgers lost six seniors from last year’s NCAA Tournament team, but already own wins against the SEC (Texas A&M), the WCC (St. Mary’s), the ACC (Georgia Tech) and a Final Four team from the Big Dance last season in Houston.

This unit has certainly jelled quickly to be near-elite on both sides. Offensively, Bucky is top-50 in five categories — including 9th in turnover percentage. Defensively, UW is top-60 in five categories — including 15th in defensive adjusted efficiency.

The Pick

Wisconsin has clearly exceeded expectations thus far, while Indiana is about where it should be. The Hoosiers were picked to finish seventh in the ultra-stacked Big Ten, while the Badgers were picked to finish 10th.

With both teams coming off solid wins and not that far apart in roster talent — along with respective efficiencies — UW playing on its home court gives Bucky a slight advantage. The under could be a sneaky play, but I’ll go with the home team in this spot.

Pick: Wisconsin -5 (-110)