College basketball is beginning to step into the center stage of the sports world, especially with the NBA All-Star break now in full swing. It is a fairly mild slate of games tonight, building out to a busy Saturday tomorrow. But headlining the action will be a Big Ten battle between the Michigan State Spartans and Wisconsin Badgers.
Both teams are off to respectable starts to the season, and each are coming off an overtime victory over Illinois in their previous game.
Looking at the odds for tonight, Michigan State enters as a 2.5-point road favorite on DraftKings Sportsbook. Wisconsin holds +120 odds of pulling off the upset, with the game total set at 147.5.
You can check out the game preview and prediction on DraftKings Network here. However, this article will look at my top player prop picks for the Friday night clash.
Best CBB Player Prop Bets:
Coen Carr to Record 12+ Points (-120)
Coen Carr enters this matchup ranked third on Michigan State in scoring at 11.4 points per game. But he has come on strong of late, scoring double digits in five of his last six and pouring in 12+ in four of these. Carr has scored 12+ points in 13 of his 24 games played overall.
Looking at this matchup, Wisconsin ranks 239th in the country in opponents’ points allowed at 75.8 points per game. The Badgers also rank 209th in defensive rating, 199th in opponents’ field goal percentage, and 155th in opponents’ three-point percentage. One area where they do have some success is putting pressure on ball-handlers in an effort to force turnovers.
Expect Jeremy Fears to receive the bulk of this attention, and for Carr to be able to relocate off the ball to create shots for himself. He has struggled a bit with his efficiency, but leads the team in minutes and will see plenty of opportunity tonight. Carr is also strangely shooting 46.2% on three-pointers on the road compared to 14.8% at home. With Wisconsin’s defensive strategy in mind, expect Carr to see his three-point volume scaled up and deliver for this Spartans team. 12 points is a low enough bar that he has cleared at a regular rate. Back the Michigan State forward to continue his strong production tonight.
Nolan Winter to Record 10+ Rebounds (+195)
In his third season at Wisconsin, Nolan Winter is producing at the best rate of his collegiate career. The 6-foot-11 forward is averaging 13.9 points and 8.9 rebounds, with no other player pulling in more than five boards per game on the team. Winter has tallied 10+ rebounds in 13 of the 24 games played this year, including three straight games with 11+ rebounds entering this matchup.
Michigan State is a strong rebounding team that ranks 12th in rebounds per game and allowed the fewest rebounds to opponents in the country. This includes ranking eighth in defensive rebounds per game allowed and fourth in offensive rebounds conceded per contest. Wisconsin is not a strong rebounding team collectively, ranking 116th in rebounds per game and 166th in rebounds allowed.
It is going to take a strong effort from someone on Wisconsin tonight, and expect Winter to be up for the challenge. He has had some big moments against some top teams this year, including pulling 14 rebounds against BYU, 12 against Indiana, 11 against Villanova, Minnesota, Ohio State, and Illinois, and 10 against Purdue. Winter has tallied 11+ rebounds in three straight games entering tonight, and expect him to be up for the challenge of competing on the glass with Jaxon Kohler and Carson Copper to pull in 10+ boards in this conference battle.
