Now that the 2015-16 NCAA Basketball regular season is closing in on the Big Dance (March Madness) the college basketball games become most interesting, and tonight Wednesday the 24th of Feb. 2016, we have the Big 10 Rivals in the 17-10 Wisconsin Badgers (5th Big 10) playing at the 20-6 No. 8 Iowa Hawkeyes (2nd Big 10) with the game being played at the Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa with the tip-off scheduled for 9 PM ET and seen on Big 10 TV.
If you are one to Bet on College basketball the betting lines for this game are favoring the Iowa Hawkeyes at -6 ½ with the Over/under at 138 and -275 on the Money Line, while the Badgers of Wisconsin are the underdogs at +6 ½ and +235 on the Money Line.
At this date the Badgers are seeking a bid for a slot in the annual NCAA Tournament (March Madness) and they have only 4 regular season games pending, and 1 of the games is tonight’s game against No. 8 Iowa, and a victory in this game would have a lot of importance.
For the fans of the 17-10 Wisconsin Badgers (9-5 Big 10) you know your team came back from a double digit deficit in the 4th quarter to overcome the Illini of Illinois 69-60 in a struggling victory. The stars in that game for the Badgers was the duo of E. Happ and N. Hayes whom together scored some 37 points with 15 rebounds and some 3 assists in the game. Now against the Hawkeyes they will have to step up their offensive play since the Hawkeyes are only allowing opponents to score some 66.6 points on their home court this 2015-16 seasons.
Their 1st year forward Happ, should be the threat against Iowa State as in his last 2 games he has scored at least 18 points each game, and has been vicious on rebounds grabbing some 8.4 in the previous 3 games.
Also, B. Koenig has performed well for Iowa State as in their ultimate 6 games he has scored in double figures and that included his 16 points against Maryland this month for a victory.
To win this game the Badgers defensively will need to perform with the same level of intensity, and be able to slow down the Hawkeye duo of J. Uthoff and P. Jok who both are scoring more than 20 points each game to date. To date the Badger are allowing opponents to score some 64.6 points each game to date. In their last 5 games the Badgers have won 8 and lost 2.
The 20-6 Iowa Hawkeyes (11-3 Big 10) their 2 stars in J. Uthoff an P. Jok as mentioned early will be giving it their all to overcome their shocking loss on Wednesday 75-79 to the Nittany Lions of Penn State.
Plus on defense they will need all the players to step up their performance and not back off the way they did in the loss to the Nittany Lions, but each must cover their space on the court floor with a lot of intensity, while communicating at all times and not allowing a breakdown in their defense, while staying tuned to the man their covering. The Hawkeyes this season are allowing some 68.8 points each game to date. The Iowa team in their ultimate 10 games at home have 10 wins and without a loss.
The sports betting prediction for this Big Ten rivalry game is that the Iowa Hawkeyes prove to be too much for the Wisconsin Badgers and Iowa wins the game 82-75.