Louisville Cardinals vs Wisconsin Badgers Prediction, 12/19/2020 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Louisville Cardinals vs Wisconsin Badgers

Date: Saturday, December 19, 2020

Location: Kohl Center in Madison, WI

TV: ESPN2

Odds/Point Spread: Louisville (+4)

The Louisville Cardinals (4-0) head to Kohl Center on Saturday where they'll take on the Wisconsin Badgers (5-1). Louisville opens this game as 4-point underdogs. The O/U opens at 132.

Louisville heads into this one with a mark of 4-0 for the year. They turn it over 11.3 times per game and as a unit they commit 19.0 fouls on a nightly basis. As a unit, Louisville is snagging 38.8 boards per contest and is sitting with 60 dimes for the campaign, which ranks 219th in college basketball in terms of passing. The Cardinals are connecting on 33.8% on 3-pointers (22 of 65) and 75.0% from the charity stripe. They average 77.8 pts per game (104th in college basketball) while going 51.9% from the field. On the defensive end of the court, the Cardinals are forcing 12.5 turnovers every game while drawing 20.0 personal fouls. They rank 42nd in college basketball in giving up assists to their opponents with 36 surrendered so far this season. The Cardinals are giving up and opponent field goal percentage of 36.5% (81 of 222) and they surrender 30.3 rebounds per game as a team. They give up 26.7% on shots from beyond the arc while they are 20th in Division 1 in PPG from their opponents (58.0).

The Louisville Cardinals played the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers and went home with a win by a final score of 75-54 in their last game. Louisville walked away from the game with a 47.3% field goal percentage (26 out of 55) and buried 8 of their 18 shots from distance. When they shot from the free throw line, the Cardinals converted 15 of their 20 attempts for a rate of 75.0%. In reference to grabbing rebounds, they earned 33 with 8 of them being of the offensive sort. They also doled out 16 dimes in the matchup in addition to getting 9 steals and 2 blocked shots. When talking about defending, Louisville let their opponent shoot 47.3% from the field on 26 out of 55. Western Kentucky dished out 7 dimes and 5 steals for the matchup. On top of that, the Hilltoppers pulled down 29 rebounds (7 offensive, 22 defensive) and had 2 blocks. Western Kentucky ended up shooting 45.5% when shooting free throws by knocking down 5 of 11 tries. They buried 3 of their 18 tries from long range.

Carlik Jones is a player who was pivotal in this contest. He walked away with 18 points on 7 of 16 shooting. He played for 39 minutes played and pulled down 6 boards. Jones finished shooting 43.8% from the floor and earned 4 assists. Another guy that had an impact in this game for the Cardinals was David Johnson. He totaled 6 boards and had 8 dimes. He ended up shooting 50.0% from the field for the matchup via 5-of-10 (17 points). At the conclusion of this game, Johnson was on the hardwood for 39 min.

Wisconsin has a mark of 5-1 for the campaign. Wisconsin has earned 466 pts so far this year (77.7 per contest) and they average 36.3 rebounds per game. The Badgers are committing 18.2 fouls every game while shooting 75.7% from the charity stripe. When it comes to offensive execution, the Badgers are shooting 45.3% from the floor, which ranks 166th in college hoops. They are dishing out assists 13.7 times per game (169th in Division 1) and they turn the ball over 7.8 times per game. The Badgers defensively are ranked 32nd in college basketball in points allowed per contest with 59.8. They have forced 12.5 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 36.7% from the floor (31st in college basketball). The Wisconsin defense allows 31.1% on shots from beyond the perimeter (32 of 103) and their opposition makes 71.4% of their foul shots. They relinquish 8.2 dimes and 33.3 total boards per game, which ranks them 14th and 105th in D-1.

When they last played, the Wisconsin Badgers walked away with a victory by a final of 77-63 when they played the Loyola Ramblers. The Badgers snagged 26 defensive rebounds and 5 offensive boards for a total of 31 in this contest. They also stuffed 3 shots while earning 4 steals in the game. The Ramblers committed 24 personal fouls in the matchup which got the Badgers to the free throw line for a total of 23 attempts. They were able to bury 17 of those for a percentage of 73.9%. In regard to three-point shots, Wisconsin buried 10 of their 18 tries (55.6%). In all, the Badgers shot 25 out of 57 from the floor which had them sitting at 43.9%. The Badgers allowed the Ramblers to bury 21 out of their 54 attempts from the field which had them sitting at 38.9% in the game. They shot 34.6% from 3-point land via 9 of 26 and finished the game at 12 out of 17 at the free throw line (70.6%). In regard to cleaning up the glass, Wisconsin allowed Loyola to collect 30 overall (6 offensive).

Brad Davison was important for the Badgers for this contest. He knocked down 4 of 7 in the matchup for a field goal rate of 57.1%, which had him finishing with 17 points. Davison pulled down 2 rebounds in his 36 minutes and had 2 dimes in this game. An additional guy who saw a lot of minutes for Wisconsin was D'Mitrik Trice. He notched 17 points in 32 minutes on the court by going 6 out of 15 shooting in the game. Trice ended up shooting 40.0% from the field while contributing 2 dimes and 2 boards.

Who will win tonight's college basketball game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Louisville (+4)

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