No. 15 Indiana Hoosiers vs. No. 12 Wisconsin Badgers
Friday, 3/9/12, 2:00 PM EST, TV: ESPN
Opening Point Spread: Indiana -1
Current Betting Line: Indiana -1
Opening Total: 123
Current Total: 123
Odds Courtesy of Bookmaker
Indiana is riding a five-game winning streak after picking up a 75-58 win over the Penn State Nittany Lions in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament last night. The Hoosiers may be moving on to the next round as a team, but will likely be playing without the services of senior Verdell Jones III, who went down with a knee injury. “I was hopeful when he went down that it wasn’t significant,” commented Hoosiers head coach Tom Crean. The program is currently the most improved team among major conference programs with a plus-13 in the win column from the previous season. Indiana is 2-0 ATS on a neutral court and both of those contests went “under” the total.
The Hoosiers have won eight of their last nine games and have outscored their opponents 75.9 to 61.4 in the victories. Freshman forward Cody Zeller is definitely the player to watch on the offensive end, averaging 16.9 points and 6.3 rebounds over that particular span. His presence in the post has allowed the team to rank second nationally in shooting 43.2 percent from the arc, which is a vast improvement from ranking 162nd in that category a year ago.
Wisconsin has won 20 games for the sixth straight season and finished among the conference’s top four teams for the 11th consecutive year, which happens to be the longest such streak in the Big Ten. The Badgers haven’t played particularly well in this event over the last three seasons, as they’ve been bounced out after the first game each time due to shooting just 31.1 percent from the field. The program has a great chance of moving past today’s game due to winning nine straight game against Friday’s opponent. Wisconsin is 6-9 ATS in tournament games the last two-plus years.
The Badgers rely on a defense that leads the nation in allowing 51.8 points per game, while also pacing all teams in allowing opponents to shoot just 27.6 percent from beyond the arc. Wisconsin owns a 14-12 overall record in the Big Ten Tournament, but its last win game in the 2008 Championship Game. It’s important to note that the squad is 1-4 as the No. 4 seed, with opening-game losses in each of the last three tries.
Bettors will likely back the Badgers due to their 2-0 ATS mark on a neutral court, while the Hoosiers are 24-30 ATS against conference opponents the last two-plus years.
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