Wisconsin vs. Marquette Basketball Betting Preview
Where: BMO Harris Bradley Center, Milwaukee, WI
When: Saturday, December 10, 2:00 PM ET
Line: Wisconsin Badgers at Marquette Golden Eagles – view all NCAA Basketball odds and lines
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Betting on the Wisconsin Badgers (TBA)
The No. 17 Wisconsin Badgers are back in great form after reeling off a fourth-straight win on Wednesday by ravaging the Idaho State bengals, 78-44. That beat-down also happens to be the Badgers’ fourth-consecutive victory of 14 points or more.
Two of Wisconsin’s brightest stars shone on Wednesday, as senior guard Bronson Koenig scored a team-high 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting, while sophomore forward Ethan Happ secured his fourth double-double in six games with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Koenig has certainly cranked up his offense production this season, as he’s shooting career-bests of 15.8 points per game at 45.4-percent shooting from the field and 85.7 percent from the free-throw line.
More importantly, the Badgers’ defense showed up again as it has done so for much of this season. They limited Idaho State to a season-low 44 points, which is the eighth time in 10 contests that they’ve held an opponent to a season-low outputfor a single game. The team’s D, which currently ranks 15th in the nation at just 59.1 points allowed per game, will need to step up once more against a rather prolific Marquette offense on Saturday.
Although the Badgers are technically just 1-2 on the road this season (SU/ATS), their losses were against currently-ranked schools UNC and Creighton with both matches having been held on neutral ground during the Maui Invitational in Hawaii. That being said, Wisconsin has fared terrifically against the rest of the non-elite programs, and the Golden Eagles up ahead still fall under that category of borderline contenders that the Badgers could very well lock down on.
Betting on the Marquette Golden Eagles (TBA)
Watch out, Wisconsin; the Marquette Golden Eagles have just strung together a five-game win streak of their own after beating the Fresno State Bulldogs on Tuesday, 84-81.
Five Marquette players scored in double-digits against the Bulldogs, including standout Jajuan Johnson. The senior guard scored 14 points and hauled in a team-high eight boards that night, and has now improved his field-goal percentage for the season to a sizzling 51.5 percent. As a whole, the team has been on fire on offense thus far, ranking 16th in the country with 86.7 points scored per game as well as 18th overall with 18.2 assists per contest.
However, the Golden Eagles actually survived quite a scare on Tuesday. They led Fresno State by as many as 20 points in the second half before hanging onto the narrow victory via a pair of crucial free throws from freshman Sam Hauser with 12 seconds left in the game. That can’t be a good sign heading into Saturday, especially with Wisconsin – their toughest competition to date this season – looming.
Even though Marquette has yet to lose at home this season, the team has dealt with just a bunch of middling opponents during its hot start. In contrast, the Golden Eagles’ two defeats thus far were against better programs in Michigan and Pitt, and those two schools are not even ranked opponents.
Then again, Marquette has had No. 17 Wisconsin’s number of late, having gone 3-2 in its last five meetings with its fellow inter-state rival. In fact, the Golden Eagles are an even better 5-0 against the spread during that span, which suggests that an upset is still highly possible this weekend.
Writer’s Prediction
The Badgers hand the Golden Eagles their first home loss of the season, 83-78.
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