Northwestern Wildcats vs Michigan State Spartans Prediction, 3/6/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Northwestern Wildcats vs Michigan State Spartans

Date: Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Location: Breslin Center in East Lansing, MI

TV: BTN

Breslin Center is the location where the Michigan State Spartans (17-12) will try to defeat the Northwestern Wildcats (20-9) on Wednesday.

The Northwestern Wildcats played Iowa and took a loss by a score of 87-80 in their last game. Northwestern ended the contest with a 53.8% field goal percentage (28 out of 52) and converted 10 out of their 20 three-point attempts. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Wildcats buried 14 of their 16 shots for a percentage of 87.5%. In the matter of rebounding, they earned a total of 18 with 3 of them being on the offensive end. They also recorded 19 dimes in this matchup in addition to creating 5 turnovers and getting 4 steals. When talking about defense, Northwestern allowed the other team to shoot 55.0% from the floor on 33 out of 60 shooting. Iowa earned 25 dimes and had 4 steals in the matchup. Additionally, Iowa collected 26 boards (7 offensive, 19 defensive), but finished the game with no rejections. Iowa walked away from this one shooting 84.6% at the charity stripe by knocking down 11 of 13 tries. They also made 10 out of their 20 tries from 3-point land. Concerning personal fouls, the Wildcats finished with 15 and Iowa totaled 14 personal fouls.

Boo Buie is a guy who was a factor for this game. He accounted for 27 points on 9 out of 13 shooting. He was on the court for 39 mins played and grabbed 4 boards. He finished the contest at 69.2% from the floor and also recorded 7 dimes.

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Northwestern steps onto the court with a record of 20-9 on the year. They are averaging 74.4 points per outing (157th in the nation) while shooting 46.0% from the field. The Wildcats are connecting on 39.3% from downtown (241 of 613) and 74.9% from the free throw line. As a team, Northwestern is grabbing 31.2 rebounds per game and is sitting with 458 assists on the campaign, which ranks 59th in the country in terms of passing the rock. They turn the ball over 8.9 times per contest and as a basketball team they commit 18.1 personal fouls per game.

When they are on the defensive end, the Wildcats are forcing their opponents into 12.6 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 17.0 fouls. They are 257th in D-1 in allowing assists to their opponents with 404 conceded for the year. The Wildcats defense is allowing and opponent field goal percentage of 45.4% (686 of 1,512) and they relinquish 33.0 boards per game as a group. They give up 36.0% on shots from beyond the perimeter and they are 110th in college basketball in points per game allowed (69.6).

In their last game, the Michigan State Spartans walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 80-74 when they played Purdue. When talking about how they rebounded, Michigan State permitted Purdue to grab 31 in all (7 on the offensive side). They finished 50.0% from 3-point land by hitting 10 out of 20 and ended up going 20 out of 30 at the free throw line (66.7%). The Spartans permitted Purdue to make 25 of 49 attempts from the field which left them with a rate of 51.0% in the game. Overall, the Spartans went 25 out of 64 from the floor which gave them a rate of 39.1%. When talking about 3-pointers, Michigan State knocked down 9 of their 21 attempts (42.9%). They were able to knock down 15 of the free throws for a rate of 88.2%. Purdue committed 17 fouls in the game which got the Spartans to the charity stripe for a total of 17 shots. They also gave up possession of the ball 7 times, while recording 6 steals in this matchup. The Spartans snagged 21 defensive rebounds and 11 offensive boards for a total of 32 for the contest.

Tyson Walker ended up being a factor for the Spartans in this game. He converted 5 of 15 in the matchup giving him a field goal percentage of 33.3%, and had 7 rebounds. He accumulated 14 points in his 36 minutes on the court and had 4 dimes in this matchup.

Michigan State has a record of 17-12 for the season. When it comes to executing on offense, the Spartans are connecting on 46.8% from the floor, which has them ranked 67th in the nation. Michigan State has totaled 2,157 points on the season (74.4 per game) and they pull down 34.4 rebounds per game. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 16.5 times per game (25th in the country) and they lose possession via turnover 9.8 times per game. The Spartans are committing 16.3 fouls per contest and they shoot 70.6% from the charity stripe.

The Spartans on defense are ranked 40th in college basketball in points per game surrendered with 66.5. They are able to force 12.4 turnovers per game and have allowed teams to shoot 40.9% from the field (38th in the country). The Michigan State defense allows 32.5% on 3-point attempts (221 of 679) and opponents are connecting on 73.1% of their shots from the charity stripe. They have allowed 12.2 assists and 33.9 total boards per game, which ranks them 123rd and 137th in the country.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Michigan State

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