Halftime Report

Only one more half stands between Wisconsin and the win they were favored to collect coming into this afternoon. They have jumped out to a quick 32-25 lead against Northwestern.

Wisconsin entered the match having won five straight and they’re just one half away from another. Will they make it six, or will Northwestern step up and spoil it? We’ll know soon.

Who’s Playing

Northwestern Wildcats @ Wisconsin Badgers

Current Records: Northwestern 12-3, Wisconsin 12-3

How To Watch

What to Know

We’ve got another exciting Big Ten matchup on schedule as the Northwestern Wildcats and the Wisconsin Badgers are set to tip at 12:00 p.m. ET on January 13th at Kohl Center. Both teams come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Even though Northwestern has not done well against Penn State recently (they were 2-8 in their previous ten matchups), they didn’t let the past get in their way on Wednesday. The Wildcats secured a 76-72 W over the Nittany Lions. The win made it back-to-back wins for Northwestern.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Northwestern to victory, but perhaps none more so than Brooks Barnhizer, who scored 23 points. Barnhizer continues to roll, besting his previous point total in each of the last three games he’s played. Boo Buie was another key contributor, scoring 17 points along with eight assists and five rebounds.

Meanwhile, Wisconsin had already won four in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 17.3 points), and they went ahead and made it five on Wednesday. They walked away with a 71-60 victory over the Buckeyes.

Wisconsin can attribute much of their success to Max Klesmit, who scored 18 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Tyler Wahl, who scored 11 points along with five rebounds.

The Wildcats are on a roll lately: they’ve won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 12-3 record this season. As for the Badgers, their win bumped their record up to an identical 12-3.

Saturday’s match is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: Northwestern just can’t miss this season, having made 47.6% of their shots per game. However, it’s not like Wisconsin struggles in that department as they’ve made 47.3% of their shots per game this season. Given these competing strengths, it’ll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.

Not only did both teams in this Saturday’s game win their last matches, they also took care of their bettors and covered the spread. As for their next game, Wisconsin is the favorite in this one, as the experts expect to see them win by 7.5 points. They might be worth a quick bet since they’ve covered the spread the last four times they’ve played.

Odds

Wisconsin is a big 7.5-point favorite against Northwestern, according to the latest college basketball odds.

The oddsmakers had a good feel for the line for this one, as the game opened with the Badgers as a 8-point favorite.

The over/under is set at 134 points.

See college basketball picks for every single game, including this one, from SportsLine’s advanced computer model. Get picks now.

Series History

Wisconsin has won 7 out of their last 10 games against Northwestern.

• Feb 05, 2023 – Northwestern 54 vs. Wisconsin 52
• Jan 23, 2023 – Northwestern 66 vs. Wisconsin 63
• Jan 18, 2022 – Wisconsin 82 vs. Northwestern 76
• Feb 21, 2021 – Wisconsin 68 vs. Northwestern 51
• Jan 20, 2021 – Wisconsin 68 vs. Northwestern 52
• Mar 04, 2020 – Wisconsin 63 vs. Northwestern 48
• Feb 23, 2019 – Wisconsin 69 vs. Northwestern 64
• Jan 26, 2019 – Wisconsin 62 vs. Northwestern 46
• Feb 22, 2018 – Wisconsin 70 vs. Northwestern 64
• Feb 01, 2018 – Northwestern 60 vs. Wisconsin 52