The No. 9 Wisconsin Badgers won’t be ranked in the Top Ten when the next AP poll comes out following a loss to Creighton earlier in the week. However, Greg Gard’s team shouldn’t fall far in the rankings and has gotten right back on track with a win against Chicago State on Thursday night. When the Badgers travel to Maui for one of the biggest tournaments around, they will need to bring their A-game. Their first test will come at the hands of the Tennessee Volunteers.
Don’t miss the hardwood action from the Lahaina Civic Center at 2:30 p.m. ET on Monday, November 21, 2016. Catch every moment of the game live on ESPN2.
College Basketball Odds at BookMaker.eu
Wisconsin is 0-1 ATS this season as its games against Chicago State and Central Arkansas weren’t lined. Dating back to last season, 11 of the Badgers’ last 13 games have finished under the total.
The Volunteers are 1-1 SU and 0-2 ATS this season despite playing lesser competition. Tennessee lost its home opener against Chattanooga by 13 as a 3.5-point favorite and failed to cover against Appalachian State on Tuesday as well.
Key Stat
Tennessee is going to be the underdog in this one and to pull off the upset in college basketball you need to be able to shoot threes. Unfortunately for the Vols, they have been one of the poorest three-point shooting teams in the country
The Vols have hit just 25.7 percent of their three-point attempts this season and it’s not like they haven’t tried many. Tennessee has put up 35 three-pointers over two games, but its shooters have been unable to get the shots to drop. Jordan Bone is just 1-6 from beyond the arc and Lamonte Turner has sunk only 1 of 8.
Wisconsin isn’t a great three-point shooting team either, but the Badgers are at least hitting almost a third of their attempts thus far. If Wisconsin wins the three-point shooting battle against Tennessee, the Vols will find out very tough to get a win.
Player to Watch
Nigel Hayes is going to be asked to be the man for Wisconsin again this season. Hayes struggled when tasked with the burden last season, hitting just 36.8 percent of his field goal attempts and 29.3 percent of his three-point opportunities and as a result the Badgers had trouble scoring points. Their 47-43 win over Pittsburgh in the first round of the NCAA Tournament highlighted Wisconsin’s offensive woes and showed just how much Hayes and company struggled.
Through the early part of this season, the Badgers’ offense looks to have some bite. Hayes is shooting at a much better rate than he did last season, knocking down 47.8 percent field goal attempts per game and Bronson Koenig has stepped up his game too. Hayes has also been able to dish to open men as teams collapse on him and the big man leads the team in assists. If there’s one thing that needs improvement, it’s his rebounding totals. He is currently tallying just 4 boards a game.
Free College Basketball ATS Picks
This is a bad match-up for Tennessee. Pretty much anything the Vols can do, the Badgers can do better and Wisconsin has two stars to lead the way in Hayes and Koenig. These two are more talented than anything that Tennessee has and both should be able to put up solid numbers against the Vols. Even though Tennessee has been a solid team on the offensive glass, Wisconsin has cleaned up rebounds even more effectively and should outrebound the Vols on Monday.
Wisconsin may have some early jitters, but should relax and take care of business against Tennessee. The Badgers are deeper and more talented and just match up better across the board. Jump on anything less than a double-digit spread.
College Basketball Odds: Wisconsin 78, Tennessee 65
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