Wisconsin at Iowa Preview and Betting Pick
The college basketball regular season comes to a close on Sunday, with the most important basketball still to be played in the next four weeks. There is still some work to be done on Sunday, and the Iowa Hawkeyes host the Wisconsin Badgers in a very important game.
Wisconsin has lost two straight games and four of their last five to fall to just 10-9 in conference action this season. The Badgers will be in the NCAA Tournament Field next week, but they are heading in the wrong direction, at the wrong time.
Iowa appears to have figured some things out, and they enter play on Sunday with a record of 13-6 in Big Ten Conference play. A win on Sunday will make the Hawkeyes the number three seed in the Big Ten Tournament and will likely secure a number two seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The Iowa Hawkeyes are 5.5-point favorites over the Wisconsin Badgers in this Big Ten Conference showdown.
Not Enough Offense For Badgers
The Wisconsin Badgers tend to live and die by the three-point shot, and they have died more often than not of late. Wisconsin is scoring less than 70 points per game this season, and they must find a way to get some easy buckets.
The Badgers remain a solid defensive team, but they aren’t going to be able to upset the Hawkeyes by playing solid defense. This is a veteran team, and the Badgers need some of their stars to step up and score some points in this game.
D’Mitrik Trice leads the team with 14 points per game, but he is one of just two players averaging at least 10 points per game. Brad Davison and Nate Reuvers combine for nearly 17 points per game, but Wisconsin needs these players to step up on Sunday.
Iowa Must Defend
If you have followed Iowa basketball this season, then you know that they don’t exactly lock teams up on the defensive end of the floor. It’s not that they aren’t capable, but the Hawkeyes don’t put a ton of effort into getting defensive stops.
Iowa is allowing more than 72 points per game, but they are scoring over 85 points per game. The Hawkeyes believe that they can outscore any team in the country, and they can when they are making shots from deep.
Luka Garza leads the team with 23.9 points per game, and he might win the Player of the Year Award again this season. Wisconsin does have some size to throw at the big man, but few teams have found a way to slow him down.
Joe Wieskamp and Jordan Bohannon are two of the best shooters in the country, and they will play a key role in this matchup. Iowa can light it up in a hurry when they are able to stretch the floors.
Hawkeyes Hammer Badgers
The Iowa Hawkeyes were expected to roll through the Big Ten Conference this season, but they just failed to show up for a stretch of about three weeks. It wasn’t that Iowa was playing poorly, but they lacked the killer instinct needed to win in the Big Ten.
Wisconsin has been a tough team to figure out, but they have really struggled when they haven’t shot the ball well. It will take much more than just good three-point shooting to take down the Iowa Hawkeyes in Iowa City.
This might feel like a bit of a trap game for Iowa, but don’t buy into that. The Hawkeyes are the much better team in this matchup, and they won’t have any trouble blowing out the Wisconsin Badgers on Sunday.
The spread is 5.5 points, and Iowa will easily cover that and will be beating down the Badgers at home in the regular-season finale.
Final Score:
Iowa Hawkeyes: 82
Wisconsin Badgers: 68
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