The Indiana Hoosiers are streaking, as they've won seven games in a row, including their first two offerings on the road of the Big Ten season. They'll come back to Assembly Hall for the first time since before Christmas on Tuesday night, and the Wisconsin Badgers should provide a reasonable test.
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HOW THE WISCONSIN BADGERS CAN COVER THE SPREAD
The Badgers absolutely have to be good with the basketball if they want to have any chance of covering this game. They're outgunned by a far more talented Indiana side, and wasting possessions isn't an option.
Sure, Wisconsin has historically done a good job of taking care of the rock, and its average of 10.8 turnovers per game isn't high at all. However, it also turned the ball over 26 times a few games ago against Green Bay, and that's a surefire recipe for disaster if that repeats itself.
The next step is going to be making sure this game doesn't get out of hand in terms of tempo. The Hoosiers love to play fast, and the Badgers cannot let this game get to the point of breakneck speed, something that would surely see it get beaten by double figures.
HOW THE INDIANA HOOSIERS CAN COVER THE SPREAD
We've already talked about the fast tempo which the Hoosiers would love to run here against Wisconsin, but that's easier said than done. More realistically, Indiana is simply going to have to be efficient with its shot selection.
Thomas Bryant has proven to be a difference-maker for this offense with his post play. When the ball gets in his hands, he scores a ton, shooting 73.1 percent from the field. Sure, that helps out a ton, but Indiana is a sharpshooting three-point shooting team as well at 45.1 percent from long range. We can't expect that to keep up in the Big Ten season where teams are really good defensively, but the Badgers struggle to defend out on the perimeter and are often slow in ball rotation, particularly in quick situations.
The Hoosiers will make their open shots for sure. It's just a matter of figuring out how to get them, something which will be made a lot easier if the defense is producing a lot of one-and-done possessions for the Badgers.
ANALYSIS AND ODDS PREDICTION
There is a clear class differential between these two teams, but the oddsmakers haven't seemed to catch up with it quite yet. Sure, the Badgers aren't as bad as 9-6 suggests they are, but they're going to be lucky to finish up this season with a spot in the NIT now that Bo Ryan is gone. They're just missing this extra dimension which Frank Kaminsky brought them for years and years, and Nigel Hayes isn't making up for that.
In the end, the combination of Yogi Ferrell, James Blackmon Jr., Troy Williams and the aforementioned Bryant will provide far too much offense for the Badgers to be able to keep up with. Later in the Big Ten season, this might've ended up being a bit more of a challenge of a cover with a higher number, but for the time being while the spreads on Wisconsin are still manageable, we're happy to lay the lumber with the hosts in what will be a far higher scoring game than the Badgers would want to see.
Indiana 82, Wisconsin 66
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Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute, so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook! The matchup between the Wisconsin Badgers and Indiana Hoosiers will go down Tuesday, January 5, 2016 at 7:00 p.m. ET at Assembly Hall. The matchup will be televised live on ESPN.
