BYU Cougars vs Wisconsin Badgers Prediction, 3/22/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: BYU Cougars vs Wisconsin Badgers

Date: Saturday, March 22, 2025

Location: Ball Arena in Denver, CO

TV: CBS

Odds/Point Spread: BYU (+2)

The Wisconsin Badgers (27-9) are hosting the BYU Cougars (25-9) at Ball Arena on Saturday in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament. Wisconsin opens as 2-point favorites from oddsmakers. The over/under is 154.

The BYU Cougars played VCU and walked away with a win by a score of 80-71 in their last game. In relation to personal fouls, the Cougars left the arena with 16 while VCU finished the game with 23 personal fouls. They converted 15 out of their 38 attempts from long range. VCU shot 66.7% at the charity stripe by burying 4 of 6 attempts. Additionally, VCU collected 28 boards (11 offensive, 17 defensive), but wrapped up the game with no rejections. VCU recorded 15 assists and had 6 steals in this contest. With respect to defending, BYU allowed the other team to go 41.3% from the floor on 26 out of 63 shooting. They also distributed 12 assists for the contest in addition to forcing 11 turnovers and earning 6 steals. In relation to pulling down rebounds, they compiled 37 with 12 of them being on the offensive end. From the charity stripe, the Cougars buried 19 of 28 attempts for a rate of 67.9%. BYU finished with a 50.0% field goal percentage (27 of 54) and knocked down 7 out of their 20 shots from beyond the perimeter.

Richie Saunders is a guy who was a contributor in this contest. He finished 50.0% from the field and also recorded 2 assists. He saw the court for 30 minutes and also totaled 4 rebounds. He walked away with 16 points on 6 out of 12 shooting.

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BYU enters this matchup with a mark of 25-9 on the campaign. They average 80.9 points per outing (29th in the nation) while going 48.3% from the field. The Cougars are hitting 37.0% on shots from distance (360 of 972) and 70.4% from the charity stripe. As a unit, BYU is collecting 37.6 boards per game and has accumulated 581 assists for the season, which is 8th in the country in terms of passing. They lose possession via turnover 12.1 times per game and as a group they are committing 16.1 personal fouls per contest.

When they are on the defensive end, the Cougars are forcing 11.9 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 16.7 personal fouls. They give up 35.0% from 3-point land and they are ranked 148th in college hoops in PPG allowed (70.9). The Cougars defense is giving up an opponent FG percentage of 42.8% (848 of 1,980) and they relinquish 31.5 boards per game as a group. They rank 224th in the nation in giving up assists to the opposition with 444 surrendered so far this season.

When they last stepped on the court, the Wisconsin Badgers got the victory with a final of 85-66 against Montana. The Badgers recorded 31 defensive boards and 7 offensive rebounds totaling 38 in the matchup. They also coughed it up 11 times, while getting 5 steals in the matchup. Montana committed 17 personal fouls for the contest which took the Badgers to the charity stripe for 20 attempts. They were able to convert 16 of the free throws for a rate of 80.0%. In the matter of 3-point attempts, Wisconsin buried 7 of their 23 tries (30.4%). When all was said and done, the Badgers went 31 out of 56 from the floor which had them shooting 55.4%. The Badgers permitted Montana to convert 25 of 63 tries from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 39.7% in this matchup. They finished the game shooting 29.2% from 3-point land by going 7 of 24 and walked away from this one shooting 9 out of 12 from the charity stripe (75.0%). In relation to rebounding, Wisconsin permitted Montana to get 24 in all (7 on the offensive glass).

John Blackwell pitched in for the Badgers for the game. He converted 7 out of 12 for the game giving him a field goal percentage of 58.3%, and added 5 rebounds. He recorded 19 points in his 33 mins of playing time and accumulated 3 dimes for this game.

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Wisconsin has a mark of 27-9 on the campaign. On the offensive side of the ball, the Badgers are connecting on 45.5% from the floor, which ranks them 132nd in the nation. Wisconsin has tallied 2,875 pts for the season (79.9 per contest) and they collect 36.6 boards per game. They are dishing out assists 14.6 times per contest (105th in college hoops) and they turn the ball over 9.8 times per game. The Badgers are committing 16.6 fouls per contest while shooting 82.7% from the charity stripe.

The Wisconsin defense surrenders 32.9% on 3-pointers (281 of 854) and their opposition makes 72.4% of their shots from the charity stripe. They have allowed 12.4 dimes and 33.8 rebounds every game, which has them ranked 113th and 148th in those categories. The Badgers are ranked 127th in the country in points per game surrendered with 70.3. They are able to force 9.9 TO's every game and allow teams to shoot 41.4% from the floor (57th in the nation).

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take BYU (+2)

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