Wisconsin vs Belmont | Prediction & Pick

Contrast in styles as Wisconsin battles Belmont

One of the more familiar expressions in sports is that sometimes, ‘styles make the matchups intriguing.’ This would be an extremely appropriate statement to make concerning the Southeast Region second round game in Tucson on Thursday between the 4th seeded Wisconsin Badgers and the 13th seeded Belmont Bruins.

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#4 Wisconsin (23-8, 13-5 Big Ten) vs. #13 Belmont (30-4, 19-1 Atlantic Sun)

Date/Time: Thursday, March 17, 7:27 PM ET
Venue: McKale Center in Tucson, AZ.
Broadcast: TruTV

Money Line: Belmont +185, Wisconsin -215
Spread: Wisconsin -4 ½
Over/Under: 126

The Badgers like it slow. The Bruins say, “hurry, let’s go.” Wisconsin is a power team from a power league. Belmont is the new kid on the block from a fairly new mid-major conference. The Badgers want to clamp down and play like they are running in cement shoes. The Bruins are the classic run-and-gun squad, shooting threes the minute they step off the bus.

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This could get interesting.

Wisconsin was one of the better teams for most of the season in the Big Ten, a league that placed the second most number of teams into the NCAA Tournament. They will make a 13th consecutive tournament appearance, the 10th consecutive season they are a part of March Madness with Bo Ryan as their head coach.

The resume of success for the Badgers is impressive. This season alone: they took down Ohio State when the Buckeyes were ranked No.1 and the last unbeaten team in the country; and they swept Michigan and defeated Marquette out of conference, while also earning tough losses against UNLV and Notre Dame. Wisconsin also finished with the 5th toughest defense to score against, allowing just 58.3 points by opponents on average.

Jon Leuer and Jordan Taylor combined for 36.7 points per game, accounting for 53.9 percent of their offensive output.

For their part, the Bruins were the runaway winners of the Atlantic Sun Conference regular season and conference championships. Three of their four losses all season came against Tennessee and Vanderbilt, and those losses were by less than ten points. The Bruins average 80.4 points per game, 11th best in the entire country. They also averaged 9.4 made three-point field goals per game, second most in the nation.

Ian Clark led Belmont in scoring at 12.4 points per game, while Mick Hedgepeth was second with 10.6 per contest. Hedgepeth also led the team in rebounding and field goal percentage.

The odds makers have the Wisconsin Badgers as a -4.5 point favorite with an over/under of 126.

Check out the latest College Basketball Odds here.

Predictions: Wisconsin should find a way to win this game, but don’t be surprised if the Bruins have a last shot to win the game.

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Wisconsin Badgers Betting Trends:

• Wisconsin is 2-5 ATS in its last 7 games
• Wisconsin is 19-6 SU in its last 25 games
• The total has gone OVER in 6 of Wisconsin’s last 8 game