The Michigan Wolverines have played really well at home this year so they should come into this weekend’s home matchup against the Minnesota Golden Gophers with a lot of confidence. The Wolverines are 15-2 at the Crisler Center and have a 7-4 record against Big Ten opponents.
The Gophers are just 3-8 in conference play and have hit a big rough patch coming into this contest. They’ll be looking to end their current losing streak, but an upset on the road won’t be easy.
At 2:30 p.m. ET, tune into FOX for live television coverage of this NCAA basketball game on Saturday, February 3, 2018, at the Crisler Center.
We'll have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the college basketball Saturday schedule.
Odds Analysis
Minnesota is 14-10 straight up and 9-14 against the spread. The Gophers have played in seven road games this season and have covered in only two of those. Minnesota is 2-6 against the spread as the underdog this season.
Michigan is 18-6 straight up and 14-8-1 against the spread. The Wolverines are 7-4-1 against the spread at home and have gone 10-6-1 attempting to cover as the favorite.
Key Stat
Four. That’s how many games in a row Minnesota has lost coming into this matchup against No. 24 Michigan. It’s been a tough couple of weeks for the Gophers as seven of their ten losses this season have come in the last eight games.
What’s more, the Gophers have struggled to keep games close lately. Five of their last seven losses have been by deficits of 10 points or more and they were held to 60 points or less on three occasions in this recent stretch.
Minnesota’s most recent loss came in Iowa on Tuesday, where, despite keeping things close in the first half, the Gophers fell 94-80 to the Hawkeyes. The team is 0-3 against ranked opponents this year and will be eager to try and turn things around in Michigan this weekend.
Player To Watch
Charles Matthews — The Wolverines’ junior guard is the team’s leading scorer with 14.4 points a game and is also averaging 5.2 rebounds per contest this year. He had 14 points and seven rebounds in his team’s win over Northwestern on Tuesday.
He and fellow junior Moritz Wagner pack a one-two punch for the Wolverines this year. And, because he and Wanger share the ball so effectively, Matthews doesn’t see huge numbers often but he is capable of taking over a game.
Matthews had a season-high 31 points against Alabama A&M in December and also scored 28 against LSU back in November. Despites the team’s up-and-down record over the last few games, he has remained a constant and should be a difference-maker on Saturday too.
Free NCAA Men’s Basketball ATS Picks
The shine is off Minnesota, which looked solid in non-conference play but has really fallen off as the competition has increased. The Gophers are capable of capturing wins in the Big Ten when they have the benefit of the home court advantage, but going on the road to face off against a ranked team is not a good combination.
Take Michigan to win this one going away, as it is the vastly superior team. The Wolverines are trying to hone in on a solid seed in March Madness and wants to keep compiling easy wins against teams they should be able to knock off.
Watch the spread as Michigan may need to win this game by double digits in order to cover. Minnesota is not great defensively so the “over” is something to consider depending on where the oddsmakers peg the scoring total.
NCAA Men’s Basketball Odds: Michigan 81, Minnesota 70
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