Wisconsin +2.5 (2u)
1:00 PM EST
Rotation #830
Betting Line Provider: Draftkings
Wisconsin +2.5 over Purdue
My plan heading into this week was to bet against Wisconsin at Nebraska on Friday, then come back on them off a loss at home against Purdue today. It wasn’t looking too good for our Nebraska bet when they were down 18 at half, only a 2% chance of winning the game according to the ESPN win predictor. Wisconsin’s A.J. Storr in particular played like a man possessed, scoring 16 of Wisconsin’s first 18 points. Then Nebraska staged a furious second half comeback and ultimately won the game in overtime, cashing our two unit bet and setting up an excellent bounceback spot this game. Even despite the second half collapse, I still came away from that game very impressed with the Badgers. The bottom line is it’s very difficult to win on the road in the Big 10 as Wisconsin experienced on Friday. Now the script flips and the Badgers head home while Purdue takes to the highway where they have already stumbled twice in league play.
The Boilermakers are excellent and would probably be my pick to ultimately cut down the nets if it wasn’t for Matt Painter, but as aforementioned above, they have shown some vulnerabilities since league play has begun. They lost on the highway at Northwestern and Nebraska and then Northwestern gave them all they could handle last game out in the rematch in West Lafayette. Purdue was essentially gifted that game by the refs, they had an OBSCENE 46 to 8 advantage at the free throw line and still needed OT to win. Needless to say, I do not expect anywhere near that kind of free throw disparity today on the road at the Kohl Center. The Badgers brought back everyone from last year with the goal of winning the Big 10 and making a big run in the NCAA Tournament. In addition, they brought in St. John’s transfer A.J. Storr, who has added an element of athleticism and toughness that they lacked last year — he really has been the x-factor for Greg Gard’s squad. If the Badgers have any hope of winning the Big 10 regular season conference championship, this is a win they must have and I expect them to get it. Look for A.J. Storr to be excellent again, the other role players to contribute some solid three point shooting and for the raucous crowd to ultimately propel the home team to victory. Live dog! Take Wisconsin.