The Minnesota Golden Gophers erased any doubt that they would finally make the NCAA Tournament in Richard Pitino’s fourth year. Minnesota has been on a tear since the beginning of February, winning eight in a row, solidifying its place in March. To close out its regular season, it will face a team that is no stranger to March, the Wisconsin Badgers. The Badgers aren’t as strong as they have been in recent seasons, but this team is seasoned and always a threat to make some noise in the postseason.
Don’t miss the hardwood action from the Kohl Center at 6 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 5, 2017. Catch every moment of the game live on the Big Ten Network. We will have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the college basketball Sunday schedule.
College Basketball Odds at BookMaker.eu
Minnesota is 7-1 ATS over its last eight wins, but this team has been a bit lucky. The Golden Gophers squeaked past Indiana by a point and were taken to overtime by both Iowa and Michigan on their home court. Seven straight Minnesota games have gone over the total as this team has cracked the 80-point mark in five of its last seven affairs.
Wisconsin has been awful against the number recently and has seen its potential placement by the committee plummet as a result. The Badgers have lost four of their last five games and are 1-6 ATS over their last seven. Five of these losses, and three of the outright losses, came when they were favored as well.
Last Meeting
These teams met in Minneapolis a month and a half ago in a hard-fought game that went back and forth the entire way. Wisconsin ended up edging out Minnesota in overtime, but the game could have gone either way.
Ethan Happ was the star of the game with a dominating performance down low for Wisconsin. Happ controlled the paint, especially in the second half, hitting 11 of his 19 shot attempts from the floor, and also pulled down 12 rebounds. He was extremely difficult to contain and his presence led to Minnesota’s best shot-blocker, Reggie Lynch, fouling out after only 20 minutes of game time. Additionally, Happ had five blocks of his own and six assists in a virtuoso performance.
Happ wasn’t the only Badger to have a great game as Nigel Hayes put in work too. Hayes isn’t the rebounder that Happ is, but does have touch from the mid-range. He finished the night hitting 50 percent of his field goals en route to 21 points.
Coaching Angle
Pitino should win Big Ten Coach of the Year for what he has accomplished at Minnesota. This Golden Gophers team had one of its worst seasons in recent history in 2015-16, winning just eight games. He was likely on his way out if he didn’t turn it around in a big way but did exactly that and now looks poised to receive an extension.
His recruiting has finally started to pay off as guys that he got to come to Minneapolis in each cycle are leading the way. From junior Nate Mason to freshman Amir Coffey, this is one of the best basketball teams we have seen in the Gopher State in quite some time.
Free College Basketball ATS Picks
We are not used to seeing a Wisconsin team playing this poorly in the stretch run. With a home tilt against Iowa still to play, the Badgers have not been impressive lately. The only team of note they have defeated recently is Maryland and that’s not even saying much considering how poorly the Terps have performed to close out the year.
These two teams are going in opposite directions, but home court is the ultimate trump card. Wisconsin won’t be a large favorite, so ride the Badgers and count on their experience to pay dividends.
College Basketball Odds: Wisconsin 76, Minnesota 70
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