Wisconsin Badgers vs Minnesota Golden Gophers Prediction, 3/5/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Wisconsin Badgers vs Minnesota Golden Gophers

Date: Wednesday, March 5, 2025

Location: Williams Arena in Los Angeles, CA

TV: BTN

The Wisconsin Badgers (22-7) are en route to Williams Arena on Wednesday where they will try to defeat the Minnesota Golden Gophers (15-14).

The Wisconsin Badgers stepped onto the hardwood against Michigan State and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 71-62 in their last contest. In the matter of personal fouls, the Badgers finished with 15 and Michigan State finished the game with 17 personal fouls. They made 9 of their 27 tries from long range. Michigan State finished shooting 46.2% when shooting free throws by burying 6 of 13 attempts. Moreover, Michigan State pulled down 49 rebounds (11 offensive, 38 defensive), but wasn't able to record a rejection. Michigan State recorded 20 dimes and had 4 steals for this contest. Regarding the defense, Wisconsin allowed 39.4% from the field on 28 of 71 shooting. They also doled out 9 assists in the game as well as forcing the other team into 9 turnovers and earning 3 steals. In reference to getting rebounds, they earned 38 with 6 of them being on the offensive end. From the charity stripe, the Badgers knocked down 13 of 16 tries for a percentage of 81.3%. Wisconsin ended the game with a 33.8% field goal percentage (22 out of 65) and made 5 out of their 32 shots from beyond the arc.

John Blackwell is a guy who was a major factor for this game. He accounted for 16 points on 7 out of 19 shooting. He played 37 minutes played and also totaled 6 rebounds. He shot 36.8% from the floor and dished out 1 assist.

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Wisconsin enters this game with a mark of 22-7 this year. They turn it over 9.9 times per game and as a team they are committing 16.4 fouls every game. As a unit, Wisconsin is pulling down 36.2 rebounds per game and has totaled 426 dimes for the year, which ranks 141st in D-1 in terms of passing the ball. The Badgers are shooting 35.4% on 3-point shots (289 of 816) and 83.3% from the free throw line. They currently have an average of 81.2 pts per contest (29th in the nation) while shooting 46.5% from the field.

On the defensive end of the court, the Badgers are forcing their opponents into 10.2 turnovers per game while drawing 18.4 fouls. They rank 62nd in the nation in giving up assists to the opposition with 348 relinquished for the season. The Badgers defensively are giving up a FG percentage of 41.8% (738 of 1,766) and they relinquish 33.3 boards per contest as a group. They surrender 32.8% on 3-point attempts and they are ranked 137th in college hoops in PPG allowed (70.6).

The last time they took the hardwood, the Minnesota Golden Gophers got the victory with a final of 67-65 when they played Nebraska. When talking about rebounds, Minnesota permitted Nebraska to collect 30 in total (12 offensive). They finished the game shooting 23.5% from 3-point land via 4 out of 17 and finished the contest at 11 of 20 at the charity stripe (55.0%). The Golden Gophers permitted Nebraska to convert 25 of their 58 attempts from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 43.1% in the game. At the conclusion of this game, the Golden Gophers went 27 out of 53 from the field which had them shooting 50.9%. In the matter of shots from beyond the arc, Minnesota made 10 out of their 21 attempts (47.6%). They were able to knock down 3 of the free throw tries for a percentage of 60.0%. Nebraska earned 7 personal fouls in the matchup which got the Golden Gophers to the free throw line for 5 shots. They gave up possession 11 times, while getting 4 steals in this contest. The Golden Gophers pulled down 25 defensive rebounds and 6 offensive boards totaling 31 in the game.

Brennan Rigsby ended up being important for the Golden Gophers for the matchup. He accumulated 20 points in his 23 minutes of playing time, but left the arena with no assists. He made 7 out of 8 in the matchup for a field goal rate of 87.5%, and tallied 2 rebounds.

Minnesota has a win-loss mark of 15-14 on the season. As an offensive unit, the Golden Gophers are hitting on 44.5% from the floor, which ranks 200th in the nation. Minnesota has 1,980 pts on the year (68.3 per contest) and they grab 33.6 rebounds per game. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 15.5 times per game (64th in the nation) and they cough up possession 10.8 times per contest. The Golden Gophers commit 17.1 fouls every game and they connect on 66.6% from the charity stripe.

The Minnesota defense surrenders 35.6% on shots from distance (197 of 554) and their opponents are knocking down 74.9% of their free throw shots. They allow 14.9 dimes and 34.3 boards per game, which ranks 311th and 191st in college hoops. The Golden Gophers on the defensive side of the court are 100th in Division 1 in PPG surrendered with 69.3. They have forced 10.6 turnovers on a nightly basis and have allowed teams to shoot 44.1% from the floor (201st in college hoops).

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Minnesota

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