Wisconsin vs. Nebraska Prediction: Should You Back Keisei Tominaga, Cornhuskers In This Big Ten Battle?
Wisconsin vs. Nebraska Prediction: Should You Back Keisei Tominaga, Cornhuskers In This Big Ten Battle?
The sixth-ranked Wisconsin Badgers travel to Lincoln, Nebraska, tonight to take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers. The Big Ten has been a crazy conference season with home teams absolutely dominating. Big Ten games have seen the home team go 138–32 this season with a staggering win percentage of 81.2%. Nebraska hopes this stays true tonight for them as they look to continue a successful season and move to 16–6 tonight. Nebraska is coming off a loss on the road to Maryland, but they come back home to play in Pinnacle Bank Arena tonight where they have been a dominant team this season. Wisconsin is coming off three straight wins and has now lost just four games this season to improve to 16–4 and 8-1 in Big Ten conference play. Can Nebraska get it done tonight?
WISCONSIN VS. NEBRASKA DATE, TIME, AND WHERE TO WATCH
- Date:Â February 1, 2024
- Game Time: 8:30 pm ET
- Where to Watch:Â BTN
WISCONSIN VS. NEBRASKA PREDICTION
Keisei Tominaga and Nebraska have been playing their best basketball in Lincoln. They have a dominant home record of 13-1 this season, with their lone loss coming in a non-conference game to Creighton. On the road, they are just 1-5. The same can be said for Wisconsin. Wisconsin is 13–1 at home and just 3–3 on the road, With one of those losses being to Penn State just a few weeks ago. Wisconsin has climbed up the rankings all the way to number six after beating Michigan State last Friday, but no road game is an easy game in the Big Ten this season.
Part of Nebraska’s success this season has come from transfers Brice Williams and Rienk Mast. The two round out a well-sized and well-balanced offense for Nebraska that ranks 33rd in adjusted efficiency per Kenpom. Nebraska loves to shoot the three ball, and they are very good at it, averaging 36.3% from three and scoring 37% of their points from behind the arc. That will be an interesting matchup against Wisconsin's defense which ranks very poorly in defending the three-point line. Wisconsin is allowing teams to shoot 36.2% from three, which is 313th in the nation.
One wrinkle in this game is the possible reappearance of junior Juwan Gary. Gary is spending his fourth season in college basketball and second in Lincoln after transferring from Alabama and has been one of the best offensive players for Nebraska this season before a calf strain sidelined him for the last three games. However, he is listed as questionable for tonight and tweeted something that hinted at a return tonight. Gary returning to the lineup would be a massive boost for this Nebraska squad that will need all the offense they can get against a very good Wisconsin defense.
The play I'm going with tonight is Nebraska in the first half. Nebraska has been a very good first-half team this season, ranking 42nd in the nation with an average first-half margin of +5.1 points. At home, they have an average first-half margin of +7.9 points per game. On the season, Wisconsin ranks 59th in first-half margin, and they are even worse on the road, where they have averaged a -1.5 first-half margin this season. in the first meeting of the year, Wisconsin was up 51–38 at halftime thanks to an incredible three-point shooting effort where they shot 50% from three. I do not see that happening again, especially on the road, so I like Nebraska to be leading this game at halftime.
WISCONSIN VS. NEBRASKA Pick
Pick: Nebraska First Half +.5 -112 Click here to see which sportsbook has the best odds
OTHER ODDS
Article Author
Ben Rajavuori is a handicapper out of Minneapolis, MN. He has been creating sports content for almost four years now and is an expert in all things NFL, MLB, NBA, UFC, and NCAAB. Ben thrives on diving deep into statistics to find the best angle on every bet. You can follow him on Twitter @WeBeatTheSpread.