These two teams played a hard fought game earlier this month with the No. 23 Hoosiers coming away with a narrow victory, but the Badgers covering the spread on the road in the 59-58 final.
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HOW THE INDIANA HOOSIERS CAN COVER THE SPREAD
Indiana has the fourth ranked offense in college hoops, averaging 86.1 PPG and can easily outshoot the Badgers with a 52.3 field goal percentage.
Wisconsin does have a strong defense, but falls a bit short defending the outside shot. Lucky for the Hoosiers, they shoot well inside and out with a 44.4 percent shooting mark from beyond the arc.
Indiana also holds a nice edge in rebounding as well as on defense where the Hoosiers are a solid if unspectacular, but that should be enough against Wisconsin’s lackluster offense.
In terms of individual talent, the Hoosiers are deep. Guard Yogi Ferrell leads the team in scoring with 17 PPG and he’s also notched 121 assists. He’s a dependable player in the backcourt while Troy Williams and Thomas Bryant are each strong scorers up front. Bryant is shooting 72.2 percent from the floor while both are strong defenders, combining for 43 blocks.
As for the opposition, Wisconsin’s meager 8-12 ATS mark and 5-8 record at home show the trends are also on Indiana’s side.
HOW THE WISCONSIN BADGERS CAN COVER THE SPREAD
Don’t look now, but the Badgers may finally be coming around with two straight wins both SU and ATS in taking down Michigan State and Penn State.
Defensively, Wisconsin has held its own all season long despite struggling a bit defending the outside. The Badgers are only giving up 64.6 PPG so they just need their offense to come around.
Wisconsin showed that they have the offense against No. 4 Michigan State, stunning them with a 77-76 victory. In that game, Bronson Koenig was huge shooting 8-for-15 from the floor and recording 27-points. Nigel Hayes also had a big game, scoring 25-points as the two combined for all but 25 of the team’s total points.
In their last game, Koenig only scored eight points, but Ethan Happ stepped up with 20-points and 11 rebounds, giving the team a pair of double-digit scorers again as Hayes put up 15.
Wisconsin doesn’t have an exceptionally deep roster, but the talent at the top can keep it in this game and has already led to covering the spread against Indiana earlier as well as getting an outright win against a higher ranked team in Michigan State.
To help the Badgers out further, the Hoosiers are only 1-3 ATS in their four true road games played to date.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
Wisconsin got a head in the first half last month as the Hoosiers struggled shooting the ball early, but Indiana came around to pull out the come from behind victory. The Badgers covered the spread on the road and will get a chance for even better results at home.
Indiana still has to contend without James Blackmon Jr., but it’s covered in back-to-back games and still has the services of Ferrell and Williams to call upon. The team’s also taken 12 straight games, including the one against Wisconsin.
Still, with Koenig, Hayes and Happ all playing solid ball of late, they stack up pretty well with Ferrell and company. They’ve also got momentum and confidence from overcoming the Spartans.
Indiana’s superior offense and strong rebounding skills will still lead it to the outright victory, but this should be another close one, perhaps this time with a bit more points put on the board.
Indiana 67, Wisconsin 64
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Real-time spreads, totals, props and moneyline odds are all available by clicking here so start betting with BookMaker today! The Indiana Hoosiers and Wisconsin Badgers square off on Tuesday, January 26, 2016, at 7 p.m. ET at the Kohl Center. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN.
