Big Ten Conference Tournament Second Round betting preview and odds
Penn State's sophomore guard Tony Carr was a consensus All-Big Ten first team selection after leading the conference with 20.1 points to go along with 4.9 assists per game.
The Second Round of the Big Ten Tournament tips off Thursday afternoon at Madison Square Garden in New York as ranked teams look to secure higher seeds and bubble teams hope to stamp their dance ticket or else their bubble could burst on Selection Sunday.
Tournament to be played at Madison Square Garden, New York, New York.
Wisconsin Badgers vs Maryland Terrapins (-2, 130.5)
Wisconsin takes on Maryland in the first game of the second round of the Big Ten tournament in Madison Square Garden Thursday, with both teams desperate for wins to build their resumes for postseason consideration. The ninth-seeded Badgers, who have reached the final of this tournament three times in the last five seasons, have to make a surprising run to extend their current streak of NCAA appearances to 20, while the Terrapins will need at least a couple victories -- if not more -- to be included in the NCAA field this season.
Forward Ethan Happ is the centerpiece for Wisconsin coach Greg Gard, leading the Badgers in scoring (17.9 points per game), rebounding (8.2), assists (3.8), steals (1.5) and blocks (1). Freshman guard Brad Davison (12.1 points, team-high 58 3-pointers) has shown a lot of moxie despite playing with a shoulder injury that sometimes causes his shoulder to separate -- as it did in the Badgers' most recent outing, though Davison finished with a career-high 30 points. Wisconsin has won four of its last six thanks to the reemergence of sophomore guard Brevin Pritzl, who had a mid-season slump but has broken out offensively in the past six contests. The Badgers have held their last four opponents -- Purdue, Minnesota, Northwestern and Michigan State -- to an average of 15.8 points below their season scoring averages.
The Terrapins' offense is one that attacks from the perimeter, led by guard Anthony Cowan Jr. (15.7 points) and Kevin Huerter (14.6), who have hit 53 and 72 3-pointers, respectively. In the only meeting of the regular season between the two teams in early February, the Terrapins won 68-63 thanks to 42 points from the duo and holding Happ and Davison to combined 12-of-29 shooting from the field. Maryland F/C Bruno Fernando leads all Big Ten freshmen in shooting percentage, hitting 58.5 percent from the field.
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Maryland opened as 2.5-point favorites and that opening number was quickly bet down to -2. The total hit betting boards at 130.5 and has seen no movement as of Thursday morning.
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TRENDS:
* Badgers are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 vs. Big Ten.
* Terrapins are 7-1 ATS in their last 8 games following a straight up loss of more than 20 points.
* Under is 4-0-1 in Badgers last 5 vs. a team with a winning straight up record.
* Under is 7-0 in Terrapins last 7 games following a straight up loss.
* Under is 4-0-1 in the last 5 meetings.
Iowa Hawkeyes vs Michigan Wolverines (OFF)
No. 13 Michigan made a miracle run to win last year's Big Ten Tournament and begins defense of its crown when it faces 12th-seeded Iowa on Thursday in a second-round game at New York's Madison Square Garden. The fifth-seeded Wolverines are a certainty to make this season's NCAA Tournament field no matter what happens in the conference tourney.
Michigan finished the regular season with five consecutive wins and coach John Beilein is trying to stir up the same kind of desperation that fueled last season's run when the Wolverines became the lowest seed (No. 8) to win the Big Ten Tournament. Junior forward Moritz Wagner received second-team All-Big Ten honors while leading the team in scoring (14.4) and rebounding (7.2) and he is 39 points away from joining 52 others in school history to reach 1,000 career points. Junior guard Charles Matthews (13 per game) and senior guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman (12.3) also average in double digits for a team that ranks eighth in the conference at 74.3 points per game.
Iowa recorded a 96-87 victory over Illinois in Wednesday's first round for its first Big Ten Tournament victory since 2013. The Hawkeyes have won two straight following a six-game slide that prompted speculation over the future of eighth-year coach Fran McCaffery. Sophomore forward Tyler Cook boasts team-best averages of 15.4 points and 6.8 rebounds and he averaged 19 points and eight rebounds against the Wolverines this season.
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The line and total are currently off the board.
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TRENDS:
* Iowa is 4-0 ATS in its last four neutral site games.
* Michigan is 10-2-1 ATS in its last 13 neutral site games.
* Over is 5-0 in Iowa's last five neurtal site games.
* Over is 4-1 in Michigan's last 10 overall.
* Favorite is 5-2 ATS in the last seven meetings
Northwestern Wildcats vs Penn St. Nittany Lions (-5.5, 132.5)
Seventh-seeded Penn State will take on No. 10 Northwestern in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday in New York City. The Nittany Lions wrapped up the regular season with three consecutive losses to fall out of the NCAA Tournament picture and hope to play their way back into contention with a deep run in the conference tournament.
Penn State cruised past the Wildcats 78-63 in the first meeting of the season before suffering a 70-61 setback on Jan. 20 and strive to advance to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2015. Sophomore guard Tony Carr was a consensus All-Big Ten first team selection after leading the conference with 20.1 points to go along with 4.9 assists per game.
Northwestern has dropped six consecutive games, including a 77-70 loss to Iowa on Sunday to end a disappointing regular season. The Wildcats, who returned most of their core players from the team that earned the first NCAA Tournament berth in program history last year, struggled under the weight of expectations and hope to avoid their first losing season since 2014-15. Vic Law, who is averaging 12 points and 5.8 rebounds per game this season, will miss the Big Ten Tournament with a toe problem while senior guard Bryant McIntosh will play through a shoulder injury, which caused him to miss two games in February.
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Penn St. opened as big 7-point favorites for its opening game of the Big Ten tourney, but Northwestern action has pushed that pointspread down to 5.5 as of Thursday morning. The total hit betting boards at 132 and bumped up slightly to 132.5 overnight.
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TRENDS:
* Wildcats are 1-5 ATS in their last 6 vs. Big Ten.
* Nittany Lions are 12-3-1 ATS in their last 16 games vs. a team with a losing straight up record.
* Over is 6-1 in Wildcats last 7 neutral site games.
* Over is 11-5 in Nittany Lions last 16 vs. Big Ten.
* Favorite is 4-0 ATS in the last 4 meetings.
Rutgers Scarlet Knights vs Indiana Hoosiers (OFF)
Indiana knows that its only path into the NCAA Tournament is to win four games in four days and the sixth-seeded Hoosiers begin tackling that assignment when they face 14th-seeded Rutgers in Thursday's second round of the Big Ten Tournament at New York's Madison Square Garden. Indiana finished the regular season with back-to-back losses and is just 4-8 away from home this season.
Rutgers advanced with a 65-54 first-round victory over Minnesota on Wednesday and the Scarlet Knights haven't forgotten how poorly they fared in a 65-43 home loss against Indiana on Feb. 5. "Last time we played them, our defense wasn't up to par," junior guard Corey Sanders said in a postgame interview on the Big Ten Network. "If we get our defense up to par and let our offense come, I think we'll be great." Sanders, who averages a team-leading 14.6 points, recorded 23 points and seven rebounds in the victory over Minnesota for his seventh 20-point outing of the season and 18th of his career.
Junior forward Juwan Morgan and Johnson will both have to be in top form for the Hoosiers to meander their way through the bracket to the championship game. Morgan, a second-team All-Big Ten selection, leads the Hoosiers in scoring (16.6) and rebounding (7.3), while Johnson (14.9) recently matched the school single-game record with nine 3-pointers and ranks fourth (236) on the program's career list. Freshman forward Justin Smith (6.5) has provided a recent boost with four straight double-digit outings - he is averaging 15 points during the stretch - after having just four over the first 26 games.
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The line and total for this matchup are currently off the board.
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TRENDS:
* Rutgers is 4-1 ATS in its last five neutral site games.
* Indiana is 9-1 ATS in its last 10 games following a SU loss.
* Indiana is 6-1 ATS in tts last seven games overall.
* Under is 4-1 in Rutgers' last five neutral site games.
* Under is 7-1 in Indiana's last eight games followinga SU loss.
