Wisconsin @ Michigan – College Basketball Preview

Wisconsin @ Michigan – College Basketball Preview

by College Basketball analyst Thomas Quaynor for Wannamakeabet.com

Wisconsin (16-11, 8-9) travels to Ann Arbor to face Michigan (16-9, 10-7) in a Big 10 battle later this afternoon on CBS. Michigan is a 5.5-point favorite, the total is 129.5. This will be the second meeting between these teams, Wisconsin held off MIchigan, 64-59, at home on February 14th. Freshman guard Connor Essegian led Wisconsin with a career-high 23 points in the win. Wisconsin is coming off a 64-52 win at home against Iowa on Wednesday night. 

For decades, Wisconsin has had the reputation of shutting down teams defensively and having just enough offense to win, this year is no different as they lead the Big 10 in scoring defense, while their leading scorer, Chucky Hepburn, averages 12.4ppg. After Hepburn, Wisconsin’s next three leading scorers are averaging just over 11ppg. 

After starting the year ranked in the top 10, unranked Michigan has been somewhat of a disappointment for most of the year, they have righted the ship of late by winning 5 of 7, including back-to-back double-digits wins, an 84-72 win at home against Michigan State last Saturday, followed by an impressive 58-45 win at Rutgers on Thursday. Michigan is led by All-American candidate Hunter Dickinson, who leads the team in scoring (17.6), rebounding (8.6) and blocks (1.6) and freshman forward Jett Howard, the son of head coach Juwan Howard, he’s second on the team in scoring with 14.4ppg and could be a 1st round pick in the 2023 draft.

The Pick

Michigan is at home and is playing its best basketball at the moment…lay the 5.5 with Michigan here.