The Big Ten tournament title will surely go back to the state of Michigan this year, but to which school? The Michigan State Spartans want to put a disappointing regular season behind them, while the Michigan Wolverines have the added incentive of a possible No. 1 seed to win their first official tournament championship.
Read on for our take on the game and everything you need to bet this huge college basketball game.
[sc:MarchMadness ]Michigan Wolverines vs. Michigan State Spartans (March 16, 3:30 PM EST)
Line: Michigan Wolverines (+3) vs. Michigan State Spartans (-3)
Betting on the Michigan Wolverines
[sc:NCAAB240banner ]The road to Michigan’s first tournament final since 1998 has been anything but comfortable. The No. 1 seeded Wolverines barely squeaked past Illinois 64-63 in the quarterfinal, before surviving an Ohio State comeback to prevail 72-69 in the semis. Nevertheless, Michigan is now 7-0 SU (4-3 ATS) in its last seven games.
The trio of Nik Stauskas (18.5 PPG), Caris LeVert (15 PPG) and Glenn Robinson III (13 PPG) has been outstanding in the tournament for the Wolverines, who’ve made double-digit threes in both games thus far while shooting from behind the arc at a 40% clip.
Michigan swept the season series against their bitter state rivals this season. Stauskas and LeVert combined for 84 points and 14 made threes in those two games. The Wolverines are 6-2 SU vs. Sparty in their last eight meetings.
Betting on the Michigan State Spartans
Despite a wildly inconsistent conference regular season, the Michigan State Spartans find themselves in the Big Ten tournament final after taking care of Northwestern and Wisconsin in impressive fashion. In both games, the Spartans built big double-digit leads by halftime and never looked back.
Amazingly, Michigan State has won two games in a row for the first time since January. The Spartans are 3-1 SU and a perfect 4-0 ATS in their last four games.
Branden Dawson (15 PPG) and Gary Harris (12.5 PPG) have scored in double-figures in both games, while big man Adreian Payne bounced back from an off-game vs. Northwestern with 18 points against the Badgers. Harris was the lone bright spot for Sparty against Michigan this year, as he averaged 24 PPG in the two losses.
Prediction
Led by their devastating perimeter trio, the +3-point underdog Wolverines will pull out another close one to claim the Big Ten crown.
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