Wisconsin at Indiana Spread, Betting Pick & TV Info

Just one matchup between ranked teams on Tuesday’s college basketball betting schedule as it’s a terrific game from the Big Ten as No. 14 Wisconsin visits No. 16 Indiana. The Hoosiers are one of the better offensive teams in the country and the Badgers one of its best on defense.

Wisconsin at Indiana Spread, Betting Pick & TV Info

ICYMI- The #Badgers tipped off Big Ten play by tipping over Rutgers https://t.co/F7l9W2Pajs

— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) December 28, 2016

When: Tuesday, Jan. 3, 7 PM ET Where: Assembly Hall, Bloomington, Ind. TV: ESPN Opening NCAA Basketball Lines: TBA

Why Bet On Wisconsin?

The Badgers (12-2) come off a 72-52 home win over Rutgers last Tuesday to open Big Ten play. Nigel Hayes scored 20 points, Zak Showalter added 18 and Wisconsin used an active start on the defensive end to build an early lead and defeat Rutgers. Hayes scored 12 points in the first half, when the Badgers opened with a 16-4 run over the first 12 minutes to take control in both team’s Big Ten opener. Wisconsin needed the cushion after the Scarlet Knights rallied from a 20-point deficit with 14 minutes left. Since going a combined 1-of- 11 from beyond the 3-point arc against Georgetown and North Carolina in the Maui Invitational, Hayes has resisted the temptation to “settle” for the first open look on the perimeter, no matter how inviting. In five of the last eight games, he hasn’t shot a triple. Overall during this span, he’s 4-of- 6 from 3-point distance. Hayes, who shot 74 percent from the stripe in each of the past two seasons, had made only 14 of his last 29 free throws coming into the Rutgers game. But he went 10-for- 10 putting an end to that slump. Hayes also has the best 3-point shooting percentage among Wisconsin’s starters. On a far smaller sample size, Hayes (13-of- 37, .351) has nosed out Bronson Koenig (36-of- 103, .350) for that honor. Showalter is coming up fast on the outside. After a 2-for- 10 stretch from beyond the arc, Showalter has made eight of his last 16 while scoring in double figures in three of the last four games. “A lot of teams are trying to hone in on us three — Nigel, Bronson and myself,” said redshirt sophomore center Ethan Happ, who had a double-double (10 points, 11 rebounds) against Rutgers. “They’re leaving someone else open and Showy has been delivering for us.”

Why Bet On Indiana?

The Hoosiers (10-4) enter off a 77-62 loss to Louisville outside of conference play on New Year’s Eve. The Hoosiers have lost two in row and three of their last five, winning only against Delaware State and Austin Peay in that stretch. The skid started two weeks ago with a loss to Butler in this same building, and continued last Wednesday with a mystifying loss, at home, to a Nebraska team that was 6-6. The Hoosiers are good enough to beat Kansas and North Carolina, not good enough to beat Fort Wayne or Nebraska, and on Saturday not able to execute on offense or defense against a Louisville team coming off a 61-53 loss at home to Virginia. Trailing by 15 early in the second half, Indiana fired off a 13-4 run over a span 4:13 minutes to cut the Louisville advantage to just six, 50-44, with 12:20 remaining in the contest. The Cardinals were able to withstand the IU run, however. James Blackmon Jr. recorded his first career double-double for Indiana, scoring 10 points and grabbing a career-high 11 rebounds. Blackmon Jr. now has 949 points in his Hoosier career, ranking him 53rd all-time, just five points behind Luke Recker. OG Anunoby led IU with 14 points on 6-of- 10 shooting, while Robert Johnson chipped in nine points. Indiana out-rebounded Louisville, 39-28. The Hoosiers have held the rebounding edge in every game this season outside of the UNC game (tied at 37 per team). The Hoosiers totaled 19 offensive rebounds – second only to the 22 the team grabbed against Nebraska on Dec. 28. IU also had 19 offensive boards in the win over UMass Lowell on Nov. 16. IU had 21 second chance points – the third-most the season and the third time this year IU has scored 20 or more (Houston Baptist – 22, Austin Peay – 25). Wisconsin at Indiana Betting Pick: Indiana Hoosiers Take Indiana to end its losing ways at home Tuesday on NCAAB odds.