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NCAAB Handicapping: Michigan vs. Indiana (Jan. 7)

The Michigan Wolverines and the Indiana Hoosiers will both be gunning for a victory on Wednesday when they meet at Branch McCracken Court at Assembly Hall…

NCAA Basketball Breakdown Michigan @ Indiana

Not much was expected of Michigan this season, but this team busted out fast, winning games against UCLA and Duke in the first month of the campaign. Of course, that’s not the kind of thing that guarantees success in the Big Ten, as Wisconsin was quick to remind them a week ago when they came to Ann Arbor and left with a 73-61 victory.  

BetUS NCAA Basketball Betting Odds: MICHIGAN -7.5

Here are some of the NCAA basketball sports betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

* MICH has won six of its last seven games SU
* MICH has lost 17 of its last 22 road games SU
* IND has lost six of its last seven games SU
* IND has won 18 of its last 25 home games SU

Also….

* IND has won 12 of the last 13 meetings SU
* IND has covered 10 of the last 12 meetings
* Eight of the last 11 meetings have gone UNDER the total
* IND has covered four of the last five meetings as the home team
* IND has win the last 11 meetings SU as the home team
* Four of the last five meetings in Bloomington have gone UNDER the total
* IND has made more three-pointers in seven of the last nine meetings

Michigan was able to bounce back from that in another home game, as it beat Illinois behind 16 points from Manny Harris on Sunday.

The Michigan athletic department can only hope Rich Rodriguez is able to turn around the fortunes of the football team as quickly as John Beilein has done it with the hoops squad.

A nice boost has come from Laval Lucas-Perry, the touted Arizona transfer who just became eligible. Lucas-Perry has scored in double figures in each of the five games he’s played, only one of which he’s started. Zach Novak, the freshman point guard, scored 20 points in his first start of the year against Wisconsin. These guys add more legitimate scoring options, so the team doesn’t have to be overly reliant on Manny Harris (18.8 ppg, 7.6 rpg) and DeShawn Sims (16.6 ppg, 8.8 rpg).

Indiana is a team that cleaned house under first-year coach Tom Crean, in the wake of the recruiting scandals involving Kelvin Sampson. Already having lost star players Eric Gordon and D.J. White, the Hoosiers went through four more players who were dismissed from the team, as well as two transfers. At the end, there was one scholarship player remaining. The result has been some lean times, including double-digit losses to the likes of Notre Dame, Gonzaga, Wake Forest, Kentucky and Northeastern. IU has lost four in a row, the latest being a 65-60 defeat to Iowa on Saturday. Devan Dumes, a former player at Eastern Michigan, paces the Hoosiers with 13.5 points a game.

The Wolverines got their confidence back against Illinois, and with Lucas-Perry and Novak now occupying more minutes, they will show more scoring balance. This is a deep team, with ten players logging 14 minutes or more per game and nine different players having started at least one game. This team has already gone into Pauley Pavilion and won, so Assembly Hall won’t be too daunting.

We’ll lay the points with Michigan, the 7.5-point favorite in the BetUS NCAA basketball betting odds.

Our PLAY: MICHIGAN -7.5 **

By Cappers Picks

Articles on CappersPicks.com are written by Q (the Head Honcho) at Cappers Picks or by our resident "in house" handicapper Razor Ray Monohan! Enjoy the free picks folks! "Pad that bankroll one day at a time!"