Minnesota Golden Gophers vs Northwestern Wildcats Prediction, 1/3/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Minnesota Golden Gophers vs Northwestern Wildcats

Date: Saturday, January 3, 2026

Location: Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, IL

TV: ESPN+

The Northwestern Wildcats (8-5) will take on the Minnesota Golden Gophers (8-5) at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Saturday.

The Minnesota Golden Gophers played Fairleigh Dickinson and notched a win by a score of 60-43 in their last contest. Minnesota ended the game having earned a 38.6% field goal percentage (22 out of 57) and knocked down 10 out of their 32 shots from distance. From the charity stripe, the Golden Gophers converted 6 of 12 attempts for a percentage of 50.0%. With regard to pulling down boards, they earned 31 with 8 of them being offensive. They also distributed 20 assists in this game while forcing the opposition into 14 turnovers and getting 9 steals. When talking about defending, Minnesota let their opponent shoot 26.9% from the field on 14 out of 52 shooting. Fairleigh Dickinson distributed 7 assists and had 7 steals in the game. Additionally, Fairleigh Dickinson totaled 35 rebounds (10 offensive, 25 defensive), but couldn't earn a rejection. Fairleigh Dickinson ended up going 57.1% from the charity stripe by making 8 of their 14 attempts. They also made 7 of their 26 attempts from beyond the arc. In regard to fouls, the Golden Gophers ended up finishing with 15 while Fairleigh Dickinson had 17 fouls.

Bobby Durkin is a guy who was a contributor for this game. He scored 19 points on 7 of 12 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 35 mins and totaled 3 boards. He went 58.3% from the field and recorded 3 assists.

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Minnesota steps onto the court with a record of 8-5 on the year. They have an average of 72.7 pts per game (283rd in Division 1) while shooting 45.7% from the floor. The Golden Gophers are shooting 33.7% on shots beyond the perimeter (101 of 300) and 67.7% from the free throw line. As a team, Minnesota is snagging 35.8 boards per game and has totaled 236 dimes so far this year, which ranks 54th in D-1 in terms of passing. They cough up possession 11.7 times per game and as a team they are committing 16.5 fouls per contest.

When they are on defense, the Golden Gophers are forcing their opponents into 12.2 turnovers per game while drawing 19.6 personal fouls. They are 100th in college hoops in giving up assists to the opposition with 164 surrendered this season. The Golden Gophers defense is allowing an opponent FG percentage of 41.4% (295 of 712) and they surrender 31.5 boards per contest as a team. They concede 34.2% on three-point shots and they rank 24th in college in PPG allowed (64.8).

When they last played, the Northwestern Wildcats went home victorious with a score of 80-60 when they played Howard. The Wildcats recorded 21 defensive boards and 12 offensive boards for a total of 33 in the matchup. They gave up possession of the ball 5 times, while earning 7 steals for this game. Howard was called for 22 fouls for this game which took the Wildcats to the charity stripe for a total of 34 attempts. They were able to bury 22 of the free throw tries for a rate of 64.7%. With respect to 3-pointers, Northwestern converted 6 of their 17 tries (35.3%). Overall, the Wildcats ended up shooting 26 for 56 from the field which had them sitting at 46.4%. The Wildcats permitted Howard to make 22 out of their 55 tries from the field which gave them a percentage of 40.0% in this matchup. They finished 36.4% from distance by going 8 out of 22 and walked away from this one shooting 8 out of 13 at the free throw line (61.5%). Regarding cleaning up the glass, Northwestern permitted Howard to pull down 30 in all (8 on the offensive side).

Nick Martinelli ended up being a factor for the Wildcats for the matchup. He buried 10 of 20 for the matchup giving him a rate of 50.0%, and had 6 rebounds. He accumulated 32 points in his 36 minutes on the hardwood and accumulated 2 dimes for the game.

Northwestern has a win-loss mark of 8-5 for the year. As an offense, the Wildcats are hitting on 48.9% from the floor, which ranks them 54th in the nation. Northwestern has totaled 1,047 points so far this year (80.5 per game) and they average 34.8 boards per contest. Their rate of earning assists is at 18.6 times per game (28th in the nation) and they are turning it over 9.2 times per game. The Wildcats are committing 17.7 personal fouls every game and they connect on 73.5% from the free throw line.

The Northwestern defense allows 28.8% on 3-pointers (90 of 312) and their opponents are connecting on 73.2% of their shots from the free throw line. They have allowed 14.5 assists and 34.4 boards on a nightly basis, which has them ranked 260th and 178th in those defensive categories. The Wildcats defensively are ranked 96th in the country in points allowed per contest with 69.4. They are able to force 12.2 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 40.4% from the field (64th in college hoops).

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Minnesota

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