The three-way tie for the top spot in the Big Ten will be broken on Sunday when two of the teams sharing the lead square off. The Wisconsin Badgers might have the advantage of playing on their home floor, but that didn’t help them last time out in a loss to Northwestern. Bucky followed that home loss with a defeat at Michigan to drop them into a tie with the Maryland Terrapins and Purdue. The Terps are trending up and the Badgers down at the most critical time of the year.
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Maryland might have the easiest path of the three teams tied for first through the end of the regular season. The most difficult of those contests, however, is Sunday’s showdown in Madison. And the Terps come in with a bit of momentum after knocking off Northwestern and Ohio State in its last two games. The Terps won outright Wednesday, preventing the Wildcats from reaching the 20-win mark, and they’ve been a cash cow to their backers. Maryland covered as a 1.5-point dog and is 9-1-1 ATS in its last 11 games.
Wisconsin is throwing away its chance at claiming the Big Ten regular season title and with two critical road games on the slate after this one, beating the Terps is almost a necessity. The good news for the Badgers is that they get this game at the Kohl Center, where they are 13-1 SU and 7-4 ATS. The bad news is they suffered their first home loss the last time they played there. Wisconsin was dealt a 66-59 defeat by Northwestern last weekend, failing to cover at home for the second straight game and for the third time in the past four.
Injury Report
Senior Bronson Koenig sat out the last game with a calf injury and he was missed terribly by the Badgers in their loss to Michigan. At a crucial juncture of the game, Wisconsin went without a field goal for nearly five minutes, which allowed the Wolverines to move in front and hold on for the victory. Koenig likely wouldn’t have taken over the scoring chores, but his 13.4 points per game were missed as was his leadership.
The Badgers just didn’t look the same in the second half and particularly near the end of the contest with D’Mitrik Trice running the show. Koenig has played valuable minutes during his career and had missed just one other game, that coming in his first year, and the comfort level wasn’t the same without him. Koenig is hopeful he can play Sunday and the Badgers could certainly use him. But the leg strain is troubling and if he’s forced out, Wisconsin is in serious peril.
Player to Watch
There’s no doubt the Terps need Melo Trimble to play big, and when he does the victories usually follow. The team’s leading scorer went off for a career-high 32 points on 12 of 17 shooting and Maryland knocked off upstart Northwestern, 74-64, Wednesday on the road. The outburst was welcome news for the Terps, who watched Trimble struggle with his shot during the previous four games.
Over that span, the Big Ten’s fourth-leading scorer shot just 31 percent from the field and the Terps split those contests. But Trimble was back against Northwestern with his dazzling drives to the hoop for easy lay-ins and his deadly shooting from distance. When Trimble plays with confidence, he is one of the best in the country.
Free College Basketball ATS Picks
Koenig is not only a stabilizing force on the floor for Wisconsin, he’s also an undervalued defender. And the way Trimble played on Wednesday night, the Badgers need their senior on the floor for an improved chance at winning. The Badgers have experienced a bit of a scoring slump recently, not reaching their season average in the past seven and posting two of their lowest point totals in the last two.
That’s led to some money-making opportunities for under betters with the under going 4-1-1 in Wisconsin’s last six games. But winning in Madison is a difficult task and the Badgers will play with a sense of urgency faced with a difficult road trip on the horizon.
College Basketball Odds: Wisconsin 69, Maryland 65
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