Wisconsin Badgers vs Northwestern Wildcats Prediction, 2/21/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Wisconsin Badgers vs Northwestern Wildcats

Date: Sunday, February 21, 2021

Location: Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, IL

TV: BTN

Odds/Point Spread: Wisconsin (-6)

The Northwestern Wildcats (6-13) host the Wisconsin Badgers (15-8) at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Sunday. Wisconsin opens this contest as 6-point favorites. The O/U opens at 130.

Wisconsin will play this game with a record of 15-8 so far this year. They turn the ball over 9.0 times per game and as a unit they commit 16.0 fouls on a nightly basis. As a team, Wisconsin is pulling in 34.4 rebounds per game and has accounted for 303 dimes so far this season, which has them ranked 53rd in the nation in terms of passing. The Badgers are hitting 35.9% on three-point attempts (194 of 540) and 75.2% from the charity stripe. They have an average of 69.9 pts per contest (220th in the country) while shooting 42.4% from the floor. On the defensive end, the Badgers have forced 11.7 turnovers per contest while drawing 16.4 fouls. They are relinquishing 33.6% on shots from beyond the arc while they are 32nd in college hoops in points per game allowed (63.2). The Badgers defense is giving up a FG percentage of 41.2% (528 of 1,281) and they relinquish 34.9 boards per game as a team. They currently rank 246th in the nation in allowing assists to the opposition with 264 conceded on the campaign.

The Wisconsin Badgers faced the Iowa Hawkeyes and went home with a loss by a final score of 77-62 in their last contest. Wisconsin finished the contest with a 30.0% FG percentage (21 of 70) and converted 13 out of their 34 three-point attempts. At the free throw line, the Badgers made 7 of 12 attempts for a rate of 58.3%. Pertaining to hauling in boards, they compiled 34 with 15 of them being offensive. They also recorded 13 dimes for this contest while earning 3 steals and 4 rejections. When talking about defense, Wisconsin allowed 30.0% from the floor on 21 out of 70 shooting. Iowa distributed 16 dimes and had 2 steals for the contest. In addition, the Hawkeyes totaled 40 rebounds (6 offensive, 34 defensive) and had 4 blocked shots. Iowa finished 68.4% when shooting free throws by burying 13 of their 19 shots. They knocked down 12 of their 19 attempts from beyond the perimeter.

Brad Davison is one player who played a role in the game. He accumulated 15 points on 5 of 11 shooting. He played for 31 minutes played and grabbed 2 boards. Davison ended up shooting 45.5% from the field but didn't record a dime. An additional guy that was a factor in the matchup for the Badgers was D'Mitrik Trice. He grabbed 3 boards and also accumulated 9 assists. He finished 20.0% from the floor for this game by going 3-of-15 (11 points). When the final whistle blew, Trice played for 37 min.

Northwestern has a mark of 6-13 on the campaign. The Wildcats have committed 18.4 fouls per game and they shoot 72.4% from the free throw line. They are earning an assist 15.3 times per game (69th in the country) and they are giving up possession 11.2 times per game. Northwestern has totaled 1,383 pts for the season (72.8 per game) and they collect 33.7 rebounds per game. As an offensive team, the Wildcats are shooting 44.0% from the field, which has them ranked 197th in the country. The Wildcats defensively are ranked 225th in college basketball in PPG given up with 72.1. They are forcing their opponents into 12.6 turnovers per game and have allowed teams to shoot 43.4% from the floor (183rd in Division 1). The Northwestern defense allows 33.6% from downtown (152 of 452) and their opponents are converting on 71.7% of their free throw shots. They relinquish 14.8 assists and 36.3 boards per contest, which has them ranked 293rd and 243rd in the country.

When they last stepped on the court, the Northwestern Wildcats took a loss by a final score of 73-66 when they played the Illinois Fighting Illini. The Wildcats were able to corral 24 defensive rebounds and 6 offensive boards totaling 30 in the game. They also rejected 2 tries while earning 6 steals in the matchup. The Fighting Illini were called for 16 fouls for the contest which took the Wildcats to the charity stripe for 8 shots. They were able to make 6 of the free throw tries for a clip of 75.0%. In terms of 3-pointers, Northwestern converted 6 out of 25 attempts (24.0%). When all was said and done, the Wildcats walked away from this one shooting 27 out of 64 from the floor which had them shooting 42.2%. The Wildcats allowed the Fighting Illini to knock down 27 of 52 attempts from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 51.9% in this contest. They finished shooting 38.1% from distance by going 8 of 21 and ended up going 11 of 22 at the free throw line (50.0%). When it comes to cleaning the glass, Northwestern permitted Illinois to pull down 32 in total (8 on the offensive side).

Chase Audige was important for the Wildcats for the game. He buried 9 out of 21 in this matchup for a rate of 42.9%, which got him 22 points. Audige collected 5 rebounds in his 39 minutes and had 2 dimes in the matchup. An additional guy that was important for Northwestern was Pete Nance. He accumulated 14 points in 29 minutes on the court by way of 5 of 9 shooting in this contest. Nance finished going 55.6% from the field as well as collecting 2 dimes and 6 rebounds.

Who will win tonight's college basketball game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Wisconsin (-6)

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