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College Basketball

Monday’s Tip Sheet

VegasInsider Staff
VegasInsider Staff Sports Betting Expert
4 minute read
The Big Ten’s unique scheduling allows for five days of conference play in early December ahead of the shift to a full season of conference play after the first of the year. Two of the matchups on the slate for Monday night start with No. 14 Iowa on the road against No. 9 Michigan State. Later Monday night, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights will go on the road to square off against No. 22 Wisconsin.

In earlier Big Ten play this Saturday, the 6-2 Indiana Hoosiers squeezed out a two-point 68-66 victory against 6-2 Northwestern as seven-point home favorites to hand the Wildcats their first straight-up loss of the season. The No. 24 Maryland Terrapins covered as 6 ½-point home favorites in a 66-59 win against the 4-3 Penn State Nittany Lions to move to 7-1 on the year.

In the biggest matchup of the day in the Big Ten, the No. 7 Michigan Wolverines covered as six-point favorites at home with a solid 76-57 victory against the No. 19 Purdue Boilermakers. Michigan remains perfect on the year at 8-0 and Purdue dropped to 5-3.

No. 14 Iowa Hawkeyes at No. 9 Michigan State Spartans (FOX Sports 1, 6:30 p.m. ET)

Opening Odds: Michigan State -10, 158

Betting Matchup

The Hawkeyes opened Big Ten play on Friday with a 72-66 loss at home to Wisconsin as two-point underdogs. This was their first SU loss of the season against six previous wins. Iowa is just 2-5 against the spread in its first seven games with the total staying UNDER in four of those contests. This includes Friday’s loss on a closing line of 141 ½ points. Three starters scored in double figures against the Badgers led by junior forward Tyler Cook’s 19 points.

Michigan State got a strong effort from junior guard Cassius Winston (22 points) and junior forward Nick Ward (20 points) in Friday night’s 78-67 road victory against Rutgers as an eight-point favorite. This followed a 82-78 loss to Louisville on Nov. 27 as a five-point road favorite. The Spartans are 6-2 SU with a 5-3 record ATS. The total went OVER in each of their last two contests after staying UNDER in their previous four games.

Betting Trends

-- The Hawkeyes have failed to cover in four of their last five games coming off a SU loss and the total has stayed UNDER or ended as a PUSH in four of their last five games on the road.

-- The Spartans are 5-11-2 ATS in their last 18 games following a SU win and the total has stayed UNDER in four of their last five home games.

-- Head-to-head, Michigan State is 8-2 SU in its last 10 games against Iowa, but the Hawkeyes have a 3-1 edge ATS in the last four meetings. The total has gone OVER in four of the last six games between the two.

Rutgers Scarlet Knights at No. 22 Wisconsin Badgers (BTN, 8 p.m. ET)

Opening Odds: Wisconsin -13, 125

Betting Matchup

Prior to Friday’s loss to Michigan State, the Scarlet Knights had won five of their first six games SU with a 4-2 record ATS. Their biggest win came against the ACC’s Miami Hurricanes on Nov. 28 in a 57-54 victory as 11-point road underdogs. The total went OVER 134 points in Friday’s game after staying UNDER or ending as a PUSH in Rutgers’ previous four contests. Junior forward Eugene Omoruyi is the team’s leading scorer with 15.1 points a game while also pulling down a team-high 9.1 rebounds a game. He has posted two double-doubles in his last three games.

Wisconsin improved to 7-1 SU with the win against Iowa. Earlier in November, the Badgers beat Xavier 77-68 as two-point underdogs in the only game this season they were not favored to win. They are 5-3 ATS overall with the total going OVER in five of the eight games. Sophomore guard D’Mitrik Trice had the hot hand for Wisconsin on Friday night with 20 points while going 6-for-14 from the field. He has now eclipsed his team-high 17.4-point scoring average in three of his last four games.

Betting Trends

-- The Scarlet Knights are 16-5 ATS in their last 21 games played on Monday and the total has gone OVER in five of their last six Big Ten games.

-- The Badgers have a 9-2 record ATS in their last 11 games against a team with a SU winning record with the total staying UNDER in five of their last seven home games.

-- The home team in this matchup has covered in the last five meetings. The total has stayed UNDER or ended as a PUSH in the last three meetings.

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