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Wisconsin Badgers vs Michigan Wolverines Odds & Picks

Ryan Metivier

by Ryan Metivier in College Basketball

Updated Apr 4, 2020 · 2:29 PM PDT

Ethan Happ of the Wisconsin Badgers
Ethan Happ leads the Wisconsin Badgers with 18.3 PPG as the Badgers travel to Michigan on Saturday. By Alexander Jonesi (Wiki Commons) [CC License]
  • The Wisconsin Badgers visit the Michigan Wolverines on Saturday, Feb. 9 at 12:00 PM ET
  • Can Wisconsin extend their winning streak to seven games?
  • After losing on the road to Wisconsin last month, can Michigan win in Ann Arbor?

It’s a Big Ten matchup between the first-place Michigan Wolverines and fourth-place Wisconsin Badgers.

Michigan enters the game as 5.5 point favorites and will look to avenge a loss to Wisconsin last month.

The Wolverines are no. 7 in the nation while the Badgers come in at no. 19.

Wisconsin vs Michigan Odds, Spread and Total

Team Spread Moneyline Over/Under
Wisconsin +5.5 (-105) OFF O 121 (-115)
Michigan -5.5 (-115) OFF U 121 (-105)

Wisconsin Looks To Keep Rolling

The Badgers have reeled off six straight wins in conference play to rise to fourth in the Big Ten.

Wisconsin’s most recent victory came in a 56-51 over Minnesota on the road Wednesday. It was a game dominated by defense which saw both team’s struggle offensively.

Wisconsin shot just 34.5-percent in going 19/55. It was their lowest offensive output since scoring 52 points against Minnesota on January 3. However Minnesota was only slightly better in shooting 20/57 for 35.1-percent.

The difference came in three-point shooting where the Badgers held the edge in going 6/22 compared to the Gophers single three-pointer at 1/13.

Ethan Happ led the Badgers with 15 points and 13 rebounds. It was his third double-double in three games.

Wisconsin are far from an offensive juggernaut, but have been outscoring their opponents consistenly in the second half during their winning streak. They’ve also found success fron long-range ranking 60th in three-point shooting on the year. In fact G D’Mitrik Trice leads the Big Ten in three-point shooting percentage.

Wisconsin vs Michigan Statistical Comparison

Wisconsin
VS
Michigan
17-6 (19) Record (Rank) 21-2 (7)
9-3 (4) Conference Record 10-2 (1)
71.4 (225) PPG 71.1 (233)
47.2 (60) FG % 44.9 (165)
39.7 (10) 3-PT % 35.0 (145)
61.5 (8) PPG Against 57.3 (2)
39.3 (16) FG % Against 39.6 (18)
30.9 (41) 3-PT & Against 30.3 (30)

Michigan Tops In Big Ten

The Wolverines had won 17 straight games overall before losses in two of their next five games. That first loss of the season came at the hands of the Wisconsin Badgers.

Michigan got back to winning ways on Tuesday when they traveled to Rutgers for a 77-65 win as -9.5 favorites. The 77 points was their highest total since they put up 80 on Northwestern on January 13.

The win made Michigan coach John Beilein the all-time winningest coach in Michigan basketball history, moving past Johnny Orr.

Ignas Brazdeikis led all scorers with 23 points and the Wolverines had four players in double-digit scoring. Michigan also held a big advantage in three-point shooting going 11/123 compared to Rutgers at only 5/12.

Brazdeikis went 5/9 from beyond the arc and Jordan Pool shot 50-percent from three-point range going 3/6.

A couple Wolverines were shortlisted for major awards this week with Brazdeikis being named a finalist for the Karl Malone Award for as top power forward. Charles Matthews is also a finalist for the Julius Erving Award for top small forward.

Badgers vs Wolverines Prediction

These teams met less than one month ago in Madison on January 19. The Wolverines were able to take a 27-25 lead into the half, but the Badgers would outscore Michigan 39-27 in the second for a 64-54 win.

Happ led all players with 26 points while going 12/22 from the field. No other Badger had more than nine points. While the Wolverines had three players in double-digits, they missed the offense of Brazdeikis who finished with zero points by missing all eight of his overall shots.

Last month these teams combined for just 118 points and another low-scoring affair should be in the cards on Saturday afternoon. Michigan and Wisconsin rank second and eighth in the country on defense and each play a majority of their games to the under.

Michigan is 8-14 to the under on the season with five of their last six games going under the total. The Badgers are 10-12 to unders to season, while a bet on the under would’ve cashed in six of their past seven.

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However both the line and total have seen movement already with money coming in on the Badgers and the under. Michigan was a 6.5 point favorite earlier Friday evening and the total was 121.5.

While the score of their previous matchup may look like Wisconsin had it easy, it was close for most of the game and that was with Brazdeikis being completely shut out from the score sheet.

Now the scene switches to Ann Arbor where the Wolverines are 14-0 and surely a better performance by Brazdeikis is in the cards.The Badgers are no slouches themselves on the road at 6-3.

I’ll bet a close win for the Wolverines at home, with a few more points than their last matchup to see the total go over.

Best Bets: Wisconsin +5.5 & Over 121

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