NCAA Basketball Betting – Spartans vs Badgers
The Kohl Center will be buzzing on Tuesday as No. 11 Wisconsin hosts No. 17 Michigan State in a Big Ten clash with both teams looking to get an early jump in the conference standings.
Date/Time: 7:00 PM ET, Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Venue: Kohl Center, Madison, Wisconsin
Broadcast: ESPN
Spread: OFF
Over/Under: OFF
The Spartans improved to 13-2 while continuing their 13 game winning streak, and are in sole possession of first place after a decisive win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers on New Year’s Eve.
MSU was able to exploit Nebraska in rebounding–38 to 24– and also lead in shooting, going 46 percent from the field while holding the Cornhuskers to just 36.
Senior forward Draymond Green led all scorers against the Huskers with 19 points including a game-high nine free throws. Keith Appling contributed 14, and now has three straight double-digit point games.
As for the Badgers, they were upset in Madison by No. 185 Iowa in a 72-65 conference play loss on December 31.
The Badgers were supposed to win, and the letdown is part of the reason for the dip in fan sentiment. Wisconsin usually dominate their home court, and this loss puts that record at 9-2.
Iowa won the game with better three-point shooting and winning the defensive rebounding battles. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Meanwhile, the Badgers shot an awful 10 percent from behind the arc, a long way from their tram average 38 percent per game.
Jordan Taylor put his best effort out there for the Badgers with 17 points in 40 minutes, as Wisconsin dropped to 12-3 falling to 1-1 and 6th place in the Big Ten.
Wisconsin embarrassed Michigan State by 26 points the last time they played back on Feb 06, 2011, but the Spartans are much better on the road this season where they are currently 3-0.
Wisconsin has won four of its last five games and to keep the streak alive will have to look for a way to penetrate in the paint against a very tough Spartans frontcourt that has recorded more blocks than their opponents for the past 13 games.
However, there is a single statistical area where Wisconsin can exploit Michigan State, turnovers, where the Badgers outperform the Spartans, eight per game to 14 per game.
Free Pick: Michigan State
